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今天的2016考研英語泛讀文章是關于經濟的和社會的公平economic and social justice，是考研英語閱讀經常涉及的話題。確切來講這是一個書評《不平等：怎么辦?》Inequality: What Can Be Done?，不平等研究的教父安東尼·阿特金森筆下的這個日趨嚴重的問題Anthony Atkinson, the godfather of inequality research, on a growing problem。來看一下具體內容：

CONTEMPORARY books on inequality are divided into those published “BC”, or before “Capital in the Twenty-First Century” by Thomas Piketty, or “AP”, for after Piketty. His study of rising wealth and income inequality caused a storm when it was published in Englishand became an international bestseller. The book did an excellent job of focusing people's minds on the subject. It also set the lines of empirical battle and even offered a possible remedy: a global tax on wealth. If Mr Piketty whetted the public's appetite for discussions of inequality, he also made it far more difficult for subsequent authors to say something new and original about it.

以皮克迪《資本在21世紀》為結點，現代關于不平等的書籍，可以分為出版在其之前的和出版在其之后的兩類。他關于財富和收入日漸不平等的著作英文版，于2014年問世，之后便掀起了一場風暴，并成為了一本國際暢銷書。在把人們的思想聚焦于這個問題方面，這本書做了一個相當不錯的工作。同時，它還為不平等的實證爭論劃定了界線，甚至還提出了一個可能的解決方案：一項全球性的財富稅。如果說皮克迪激起了公眾對于不平等討論的胃口，他還使得后來的作者非常難以就這個討論提出新穎獨到的觀點。

Sir Anthony is more radical than Mr Piketty. He believes government should meddle in markets in all sorts of ways to influence the distribution of economic rewards. Sir Anthony's recommendations are a throwback to the 1960s and 1970s, when trade unions were a dominant force in politics and the state was seen as a much-needed check on markets. Even the most egalitarian economists, such as Mr Piketty, are reluctant to recommend employment guarantees and wage controls. Sir Anthony is not. And if his arguments are not always wholly convincing, he may nonetheless succeed in shifting the debate.

在是否需要政府干預的議題上，Sir Anthony比皮克迪更加激進。他認為政府應該采用多種途徑去介入市場，從而對報酬的分配施加影響力。他建議回到60-70年代那種工會是政治的主導力量、國家被視為一個非常必要的市場制衡力量的時代。即便是像皮克迪這樣的最具平等思想的經濟學家，也在推薦就業保障和工資控制方面顯得猶豫不決。安東尼爵士不是這樣。如果說他的論據并不總是完全令人信服，但是他在轉換爭論方面可能是成功的。

這本書開篇便對日漸擴大的收入差距帶來的不良影響給出了確定的態度，認為那不公平的對待了那些命不好的人，也消弱了經濟增長和社會凝聚力。最重要是，經濟資源分配的不公平直接轉化為個人發展機遇的不平等。泛讀是對背景知識的必要補充，在復習考研英語真題的同時，也要注意泛讀的積累。