名人教英文：阻碍经济发展的「逆风」
经济学者robert j gordon预言，第三次工业革命（即信息科技革命）后，美国将无以为继，进入低增长的时代。《纽约时报》引述他的预计：
the united states faces "headwinds" that could cut annual growth in gross domestic product to as little as 0.2 percent annually, which is one tenth the rate of growth from 1860 to 2007.
headwind原指和航行方向相反的风，引伸指阻力。gordon指出，美国经济所面对的阻力来自几方面。首先是the reversal (逆转) of the "demographic dividend"。dividend除了解作「红利」、「股息」，还解作「意外的好处」。demographic dividend（「人口红利」）就是指人口结构转变、劳动人口比例上升而带来的经济好处。gordon认为，上世纪大量女性投入劳动市场，促进了经济发展，现在人口老化，劳动人口收缩，美国的生产力亦会随之下降。另外，gordon提到：
1. rising inequality (贫富不均) means that the majority of the population will get a smaller fraction of the benefits of economic growth.
2. america is losing the competitive advantage (竞争优势) it long enjoyed based on the educational achievement of its workforce.
3. globalisation (全球化) and rapid advances (发展) in information technology encourage outsourcing (外判) and automation (自动化), which inevitably (无可避免地) have a "damaging effect on the nations with the highest wage level, i.e. the united states".
贫富愈趋悬殊，教育水平被追上，职位因全球化和信息科技的发展而流失至薪金水平较低的地方…… gordon认为美国会因此一沉不起；另一些学者则比较乐观，认为社会仍有可能靠创新重拾经济活力。
其实，上述现象不独困扰美国，包括香港在内的许多已发展地区也面对类似问题，创新才有出路。
英语单词词汇学习：
headwind 逆风、阻力
demographic dividend 人口红利
advance 发展