71%的美国人认为经济受到操纵

美国失业率降至最近40年以来的最低水平，但是这个数字并没让多少美国人感到安心。根据一项最新民调，将近四分之三的美国人认为美国经济被操纵。

今年5月，市场研究和爱迪生研究机构（Marketplace and Edison）进行了一次全国调研，询问了1022名受访者有关他们财务状况的方方面面，如求职、医疗费以及最近一次跟家人度假是什么时候。调查结果反映出一种跨越阶层、种族和政治界限的对经济形势的忧虑。

此调查显示，32%的美国人因为他们的经济状况而失眠，48%的人认为下一代美国人面临的经济状况会比现在更加糟糕。更令人震惊的是，71%的美国人认为“美国的经济体系被操纵，以使其有利于某些群体”。在受访者中，61%的西班牙裔、71%的欧洲及其他族裔、以及超过80%的非洲裔美国人持有这一观点。

受访者对当前政治气候也不抱什么期望。75%的人对现任联邦官员表示不满或者愤怒，还有47%对今年的总统候选人选举表示完全不满。的确，几乎半数受访者都认为，无论是选择共和党还是民主党入主白宫，对于他们个人经济状况来说没有区别。

“操纵”是当前美国官方发言中的热词，它最初出现在民主党候选人伯尼•桑德斯于2015年11月发布的广告《被操纵的经济》（Rigged Economy）中，用以指责政府和华尔街消除中产阶级的行为。去年8月，桑德斯在洛杉矶的一次集会上说道，“这是一种被操纵的经济，旨在为上层人士谋利。我们需要的是能够为所有人服务的经济体系。”唐纳德•特朗普也用了同样的词形容美国经济和共和党提名制度。今年4月，特朗普在纽约的一次集会上声明，“只要你思考一下，就会明白美国的经济是被操纵的，美国的银行系统是被操纵的。在当今这个世界，还有很多事情是被操纵的，这就是为什么你们当中很多人的工资在这20年中都没有什么实质性增长，我的同胞们。”

由于受访者中保守主义者和自由主义者大致各占一半，他们对于“被操纵的经济”的看法很能说明问题。随着经济上——更不用说政治上——的两极分化日益严重，看来美国人民已经找到了至少一个（几乎）所有人都能达成共识的话题。 （财富中文网）

译者：刘伟义

Unemployment in America may have hit a forty-year low, but few Americans are taking comfort in numbers. According to a new poll, nearly three-quarters of Americans believe the U.S. economy is rigged.

A national study, conducted last May by Marketplace and Edison, asked 1,022 participants about numerous aspects of their financial lives, ranging from job hunts and medical bills to the date of their most recent family vacation. The survey results produced a grim portrait of economic anxiety that is crossing class, race, and political boundaries.

According to the survey, 32% of Americans say they lose sleep over their financial situation, and 48% of Americans believe the economy for the next generation of Americans will be worse than that of the present. Even more jarring is the finding that 71% of Americans believe “the economic system in the U.S. is rigged in favor of certain groups.” 61% of Hispanic and 71% of White/Other respondents shared this belief, while over 80% of African Americans agreed with the statement.

The respondents’ outlook on the current political climate is just as bleak. 75% said they were “dissatisfied” or “angry” with elected officials in Washington, while 47% were “not satisfied at all” with this year’s selection of candidates for president. Indeed, almost half of respondents believed that the choice of a Republican or Democrat for the White House would make “no difference” to their personal financial situation.

“Rigged” is enjoying its moment in American parlance. Democratic nominee Bernie Sanders’ November 2015“Rigged Economy” ad first used the term to blame the government and Wall Street for eradicating the middle class. “This is an economy that is rigged and meant to benefit those on top,” Sanders stated at a rally in Los Angeles last August. “We need an economy that works for all people.” Fellow outsider Donald Trump followed suit, branding the American economy as well as the GOP nomination system under the same adjective. At a rally in New York this past April, Trump declared, “If you think about it, the economy is rigged. The banking system is rigged. There’s a lot of things that are rigged in this world of ours, and that’s why a lot of you haven’t had an effective wage increase in 20 years, folks.”

Since survey respondents represented a roughly equal mix of conservative and liberal values, their collective opinions concerning the “rigged” economy is all the more telling. With economic—not to mention political—polarization threatening to grow ever higher, it appears that Americans have found at least one topic on which (almost) everybody agrees.