世界收入不平等（世界收入水平）
It may not come as a surprise but the world as a whole is getting richer. Some people have more disposable income to spend on luxuries such as holidays, cars, TVs and smartphones. Recent data has shown that the number of people living inextreme poverty has halved in recent decades. So should we celebrate the fact that more of us now have a better standard of living?
這并不奇怪，但整個世界變得越來越富有。有些人將可支配收入都用在奢侈品上，例如假日、汽車、電視或者手機(jī)。最近的數(shù)據(jù)表明,雖然生活貧困的人數(shù)在近幾十年來已減少一半。所以我們要因此慶祝我們現(xiàn)在有更好的生活條件嗎？
Maybe not. Whilst the gap between rich and poor in some countries is narrowing, there is still a lot of inequality in other places – some people have a lot of money and opportunities and others don’t. A recent report by Oxfam and Credit Suisse revealed how divided many of us are when it comes to wealth. A lot of the money in the world is in the hands of very few people. In fact, 48% of global wealth is owned by the richest 1% of the population.
也許不是。雖然在有些國家的貧富差距在縮小，但還是存在很多不平等收入的地方–有些人有很多錢和機(jī)遇，但有些人卻沒有。由樂施會和瑞士信貸(Credit Suisse)最近的一份報告顯示如何劃分人群，很多人都談到財富。事實上，這個世界的金錢還是掌握在少數(shù)人手中。全球48%的財富是掌握在最富有的1%的人的手上。
But some countries are attempting to reduce this inequality and make the poor, less poor. According to David Bryer from Oxfam, Brazil has been taking “some really sensible measures – measures around having more progressive tax, around investing in a higher minimum wage [and] investing in central public services.” Having a higherminimum wage, can help people eat better and seek a better education. And more people with more money buy more things – and factories can produce more. In turn, a factory which produces more will need more workers. So, more jobs are created.
但有些國家在試圖縮小這個差距以及讓窮人少點貧窮。根據(jù)大衛(wèi)·布萊恩從樂施會了解,巴西一直采取“一些非常明智的措施–就是增加累進(jìn)稅，并用于增加最低工資和投資公共設(shè)施服務(wù)。有了最低工資保障，可以讓人們吃的更好和接受好的教育。使更多的人有錢去買更多的東西–工廠就可以生產(chǎn)更多。反過來,一個工廠生產(chǎn)更需要更多的工人。所以,創(chuàng)造更多的就業(yè)機(jī)會。
Other wealthy individuals are doing their bit to help reduce inequality. Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft, earned a lot of money from his company but when he retired, he and his wife Melinda, created a foundation to help the poor. He thinks that rich people should, of course, pay their taxes but he also advises that they should all “look at taking their wealth and being philanthropic, both in their own country and to help the global poorest.”
其他富人也在貢獻(xiàn)自己的力量來幫助窮人。比爾蓋茨，微軟的創(chuàng)始人，從他的公司賺了很多錢，但當(dāng)他退休的時候，和妻子梅琳達(dá)，一起創(chuàng)建了一個基金會來幫助窮人。他認(rèn)為富人不但要納稅還要多正確對待他們的財富和變得樂善好施，他在自己的國家甚至整個世界幫助了很多窮人。
Bill Gates feels that giving money to help poor people is “fulfilling“. But if other super-rich people don’t want to experience this fulfilment then, according to Oxfam, very soon the wealthiest 1% will soon own more money than the rest of the world’s population. Do you think that is fair?
比爾蓋茨認(rèn)為把錢用來幫助窮人會讓自己充實。但有些富豪們卻不想體驗這種成就，根據(jù)樂施會，很快這些最有錢的1%的人所擁有的錢會比這個世界的人口還要多。你認(rèn)為這樣公平嗎？
