《The Economy and the Human Spirit》歌词

歌曲： The Economy and the Human Spirit

所属专辑：美国名校励志演说 17篇

歌手： 爱飘的夜

时长： 17:21

播放 下载lrc歌词 下载纯文本歌词

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

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

at Yale University[00:00:09]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

and bank insolvency. [00:04:07]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

embodied in emerging technologies[00:05:19]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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