《The Economy and the Human Spirit》歌词

[00:00:01] The Economy and the Human Spirit - 英语演讲

[00:00:05] Commencement Address by Richard C. Levin

[00:00:09] at Yale University

[00:00:13] When I welcomed you four years ago,

[00:00:15] you were exhilarated but apprehensive,

[00:00:18] excited to be taking on a new challenge,

[00:00:21] but more than a little intimidated -

[00:00:24] awed by the imposing architecture of this place,

[00:00:28] by the grandeur of this hall,

[00:00:30] by the rumble of its great organ,

[00:00:32] and by the dazzling accomplishment of your classmates,

[00:00:36] who all seemed to you to belong here,

[00:00:40] even if you were not quite sure about yourself.

[00:00:43] Now, appropriately, you feel as if you own the place;

[00:00:48] every corner of your college,

[00:00:50] every face in the dining hall,

[00:00:52] is familiar to you.

[00:00:53] You have made close friends,

[00:00:55] and you have memories you will never forget.

[00:00:59] While all this happened to you

[00:01:01] the world around you was flourishing.

[00:01:04] And Yale was flourishing, too -

[00:01:06] building and renovating at an astonishing pace,

[00:01:10] adding new international programs,

[00:01:12] and enhancing financial aid to make the whole experience

[00:01:16] a lighter burden on your families.

[00:01:20] Who would have imagined, four years ago,

[00:01:23] that the world economy would collapse?

[00:01:28] As you leave here, it is hard not to

[00:01:32] think about this unhappy reality.

[00:01:34] So, as an economist and as your president,

[00:01:38] I would like to offer you my perspective on

[00:01:41] what has happened and what it means for you.

[00:01:45] The world economy is a mess.

[00:01:48] In the United States, we have experienced

[00:01:52] the sharpest reduction in gross domestic product

[00:01:55] in five decades, and the ride is not yet over.

[00:01:59] As many of you know all too well, jobs are scarce.

[00:02:02] Within the past year,

[00:02:05] the unemployment rate has increased from 5.0% to 8.9%,

[00:02:11] and, unfortunately, it is more likely

[00:02:13] than not to exceed 10% before declining again.

[00:02:19] How did we get here?

[00:02:24] Not, I believe, because of any inherent flaws

[00:02:27] in the nature of the market system.

[00:02:28] This is a very important point.

[00:02:31] Indeed, the ascendancy of markets,

[00:02:35] the relative demise of centrally-planned economies

[00:02:38] over the past thirty years,

[00:02:40] the opening of nations to freer international trade

[00:02:44] and investment, and the rapid advance of science and technology

[00:02:48] have led to unprecedented levels of global economic growth.

[00:02:53] Even in the midst of this downturn

[00:02:56] it is crucial to remember that more people,

[00:02:59] both in absolute terms and as a percentage

[00:03:03] of the world’s population have crossed the poverty line

[00:03:07] in the past thirty years than in any previous period of history.

[00:03:12] The cause of the current crisis is less fundamental:

[00:03:18] we accumulated too much debt - mortgages,

[00:03:22] credit card debt, corporate debt,

[00:03:25] debt to support financial speculation,

[00:03:27] and government debt. From January 1981,

[00:03:32] when Ronald Reagan took office,

[00:03:35] to September 2008 the ratio of total national debt -

[00:03:39] public and private - grew steadily from 160% to

[00:03:44] nearly 360% of gross domestic product.

[00:03:51] As we have seen all too painfully,

[00:03:55] when individuals have lots of debt,

[00:03:58] declining asset prices trigger delinquencies,

[00:04:01] defaults, housing foreclosures,

[00:04:04] personal bankruptcies, corporate bankruptcies,

[00:04:07] and bank insolvency.

[00:04:09] Financial institutions lack the capital and

[00:04:14] the confidence to make new loans.

[00:04:15] Consumers and businesses reduce their spending.

[00:04:18] Company profits and stock values fall.

[00:04:22] Output and income decline, and wealth evaporates

[00:04:26] because the promise of future earnings

[00:04:29] that supports the valuation of assets

[00:04:31] is no longer credible.

[00:04:33] This is where we are now,

[00:04:36] with our national wealth - personal and institutional -

[00:04:40] down by more than 25%. Virtually every family

[00:04:46] in this hall has felt the impact of

[00:04:49] this disastrous sequence of consequences.

[00:04:52] History teaches that all credit expansions

[00:04:57] are followed by recessions or depressions.

[00:04:57] It also teaches that recovery follows recession.

[00:05:05] The right mix of government policies

[00:05:07] can make recovery happen faster.

[00:05:09] But, in the end, fast or slow, we will recover,

[00:05:13] as long as the market is allowed to

[00:05:16] direct the immensely creative and productive forces

[00:05:19] embodied in emerging technologies

[00:05:22] and in our educated citizens including you,

[00:05:26] in particular. It will get better.

[00:05:29] It is just a question of when.

[00:05:32] Meanwhile, you may be wondering

[00:05:38] why you had the bad luck to graduate now.

[00:05:38] I know that the process of finding a first job

[00:05:42] has been more difficult and stressful for you t

[00:05:45] han for your immediate predecessors,

[00:05:48] and I know that many of you do not yet

[00:05:50] have definite plans for the year ahead.

[00:05:53] But do not be discouraged.

[00:05:55] There are exciting opportunities waiting for you,

[00:05:59] and little reason for despair.

[00:06:01] I want to reassure you and your parents

[00:06:04] that the investment of time, energy,

[00:06:07] and money that you have made in your Yale education

[00:06:10] will be abundantly repaid.

[00:06:14] It will be repaid in a material sense;

[00:06:16] it will reward you with personal fulfillment,

[00:06:20] and, most important, it has prepared you for lives

[00:06:24] of service to family, community, the nation, and the world.

[00:06:30] To put matters in perspective, remember

[00:06:34] that you came here to reflect on the world around you,

[00:06:39] to expose yourselves to new ways of thinking,

[00:06:41] to encounter brilliant teachers,

[00:06:44] to make use of extraordinary library

[00:06:47] and museum resources, to develop the capacity

[00:06:50] to think critically, to express yourselves clearly,

[00:06:54] and to find, both in the classroom

[00:06:57] and in extracurricular pursuits,

[00:06:59] the passions that motivate you.

[00:07:02] You have done all this and more.

[00:07:05] By encountering classmates from all 50 states

[00:07:09] and 41 nations, you have learned to appreciate

[00:07:13] the diversity of human talents and perspectives.

[00:07:16] Thanks to Yale’s extensive array of international programs,

[00:07:21] the great majority of you have had a chance

[00:07:24] to experience life in a different culture.

[00:07:26] You are not just four years older;

[00:07:29] by virtue of what you have learned about

[00:07:32] the world around you and about yourselves,

[00:07:34] you are immensely more capable of taking on life’s challenges.

[00:07:39] You may doubt my conclusion at this bittersweet moment of separation.

[00:07:45] But believe me, you are ready to leave.

[00:07:48] And think of all the exciting possibilities

[00:07:53] that are open to you.

[00:07:54] Let us start by noticing that there has been

[00:07:59] a dramatic change in our national agenda,

[00:08:01] the most significant change of course

[00:08:04] in nearly thirty years.

[00:08:06] Whatever your political persuasion,

[00:08:09] if you care about health care, education,

[00:08:13] or the sustainability of the planet,

[00:08:15] now is the time to get involved.

[00:08:18] Think about opportunities to engage with these issues -

[00:08:22] either in government or in the private sector,

[00:08:25] whether for-profit or non-profit.

[00:08:28] The years immediately ahead are going to

[00:08:31] have consequences for a long time to come.

[00:08:35] Some of you are already responding to this call.

[00:08:40] The number of you enlisted to serve in Teach for America,

[00:08:44] the largest single employer of Yale College graduates,

[00:08:48] has more than doubled in the last two years.

[00:08:51] In America’s schools, there are promising signs

[00:08:55] of reform all around, led by the spectacular success

[00:09:00] of new approaches that instill confidence

[00:09:03] and a drive for achievement in the most disadvantaged of our youth.

[00:09:08] Whether it is the charter school models introduced

[00:09:12] by organizations such as KIPP in New York City

[00:09:16] and Achievement First here in New Haven,

[00:09:19] or public school reforms associated with

[00:09:23] a wide array of family services

[00:09:25] as in the Harlem Children’s Zone,

[00:09:28] we are seeing powerful evidence of improved performance.

[00:09:34] As the new administration and some of our largest

[00:09:37] foundations continue to embrace these new ideas,

[00:09:41] more opportunities will arise to engage you.

[00:09:44] You might think about following

[00:09:48] in the footsteps of Yale graduates David Levin,

[00:09:51] the co-founder of KIPP, or Dacia Toll,

[00:09:56] the co-founder of Achievement First,

[00:09:59] and contributing to the renaissance of primary

[00:10:02] and secondary education in the United States.

[00:10:05] Or think about helping to address the challenge of global warming.

[00:10:12] In America and elsewhere around the globe,

[00:10:15] there is going to be massive public

[00:10:18] and private investment in new energy technologies.

[00:10:21] This will create tremendous opportunities not only

[00:10:25] for those of you interested in science,

[00:10:27] engineering, or public policy but also for

[00:10:31] those of you interested in business,

[00:10:34] where you might help launch entrepreneurial “cleantech” startups,

[00:10:38] or make established businesses greener

[00:10:41] and more socially responsible.

[00:10:44] In this arena you might take as your model Yale graduates

[00:10:49] like Frances Beinecke, executive director

[00:10:52] of the Natural Resources Defense Council,

[00:10:55] or Kevin Czinger, whose company, Miles Electric Vehicles,

[00:11:00] is one of several hoping to be first to the market

[00:11:04] with an all-electric car suitable for

[00:11:08] highway driving and daily commuting.

[00:11:10] Or perhaps, as America adopts a new

[00:11:15] and more collaborative approach to foreign policy,

[00:11:18] you might think about building a career

[00:11:20] that contributes to greater international cooperation

[00:11:24] and understanding. Legions of Yale graduates

[00:11:28] before you have pursued this noble calling:

[00:11:31] from Sargent Shriver, the founder of the Peace Corps,

[00:11:35] to Joseph Reed, longtime Undersecretary General

[00:11:39] of the United Nations, to career diplomats like John Negroponte,

[00:11:39] to our current Secretary of State, Hillary Rodham Clinton.

[00:11:49] Perhaps the Peace Corps, the military,

[00:11:52] or the foreign service would be a good first step toward such a career.

[00:11:58] I was vividly reminded of the abundance of opportunities

[00:12:03] before you just two months ago,

[00:12:06] when I convened a group of Yale alumni

[00:12:09] in Silicon Valley to advise me on

[00:12:12] how the University might take better advantage of

[00:12:15] new media in carrying out its educational mission.

[00:12:19] Around the table were Yale graduates

[00:12:22] who have been instrumental in the founding

[00:12:25] and development of companies such as Microsoft,

[00:12:28] Palm, RealNetworks, Electronic Arts, and Facebook.

[00:12:34] Having come to California fresh from

[00:12:38] a series of gloomy meetings with Yale graduates

[00:12:41] in the New York financial community,

[00:12:43] I was astounded by the unbridled optimism

[00:12:47] of those in the new media and technology business.

[00:12:52] The prospects for investment, they told me,

[00:12:54] have never been better. The cost of launching

[00:12:57] a media business, thanks to the development

[00:13:00] of widely available software platforms and tools,

[00:13:03] is lower than ever, and the possibilities

[00:13:07] for creative engagement with the user community

[00:13:10] are unprecedented. So in addition to

[00:13:14] contemplating a contribution in education,

[00:13:17] or energy and sustainability, or foreign relations,

[00:13:21] you might also think about new media,

[00:13:25] where Yale graduates have helped to

[00:13:28] create entirely new forms of enterprise

[00:13:31] that did not exist a generation ago.

[00:13:34] You can do the same.

[00:13:39] I cite these specific paths not to limit your imagination,

[00:13:43] but to encourage you to recognize

[00:13:46] that opportunities are everywhere.

[00:13:48] The education you have acquired here

[00:13:51] has given you the breadth and flexibility

[00:13:54] to take on the widest array of possible challenges,

[00:13:58] and it has given you the depth and rigor

[00:14:01] to make a meaningful difference

[00:14:03] wherever you choose to apply your talent.

[00:14:06] In 1930, at the darkest moment of the Great Depression,

[00:14:12] the economist John Maynard Keynes wrote:

[00:14:16] We are suffering just now from a bad attack

[00:14:20] of economic pessimism. It is common to hear people say

[00:14:25] that the epoch of enormous economic progress is over;

[00:14:29] that the rapid improvement of the standard of life

[00:14:32] is now going to slow down; that a decline in prosperity

[00:14:37] is more likely than an improvement .

[00:14:40] I believe that this is a wildly mistaken interpretation

[00:14:46] of what is happening to us. We are suffering,

[00:14:48] not from the rheumatics of old age,

[00:14:52] but from the growing-pains of over-rapid changes.

[00:14:56] The increase of technical efficiency

[00:14:59] has been taking place faster than we can deal with;

[00:15:03] the improvement in the standard of life

[00:15:05] has been a little too quick.

[00:15:08] Keynes went on to predict that the standard

[00:15:12] of living in advanced capitalist countries

[00:15:15] would increase by a factor of four to eight over the next century.

[00:15:20] He was right; in the nearly eighty years since 1930,

[00:15:25] the per capita gross domestic product in the United States,

[00:15:29] adjusted for inflation, has increased by a factor of six.

[00:15:35] Keynes’ source of confidence about the future

[00:15:39] was a belief in the power of creativity and innovation,

[00:15:44] expressed through the efforts of free,

[00:15:47] well-educated individuals to apply scientific knowledge

[00:15:52] and human ingenuity to the development of new technologies,

[00:15:56] new products, and new services to improve material well-being.

[00:16:01] The potential for material advance is no less abundant

[00:16:09] in the United States today than it was in Keynes’ Britain

[00:16:12] of eight decades ago. And, what is even more abundant today

[00:16:17] is the potential for moving beyond material advance

[00:16:21] to a better quality of life for all -

[00:16:24] toward a healthier population, a cleaner environment,

[00:16:28] a better educated and wiser citizenry,

[00:16:32] a more peaceful world.

[00:16:34] Women and men of the class of 2009:

[00:16:40] You have within you the creative potential

[00:16:44] to make a better world for us all.

[00:16:46] Here at Yale you have learned to think critically and independently,

[00:16:51] and you have the flexibility and resourcefulness

[00:16:55] to make the most of any situation.

[00:16:57] The world is all before you. Choose your direction,

[00:17:02] and prove that this time of crisis is also a time of opportunity.

[00:17:08] You can do it. Yes, you can.