house party家居派对、留宿派对

Booming residential-property prices spell trouble for the social contract(社会契约) after the pandemic

 booming a. 飞速发展的——boom n./v. 激增、繁荣

 spell trouble for sb. 为某人招致麻烦

Stock markets have not had a good September, but their strength for the year as a whole remains a source of wonderment(惊喜、惊叹). Less noticed has been the equally remarkable buoyancy of another asset class(资产类别): housing. … According to unofficial series—which are timelier though less accurate than government data—America’s house prices are up 5% on a year ago. Germany’s are 11% higher. Britain’s hit an all-time high(历史新高), in nominal terms, in August. The boom shares some causes with the strength of stock markets, but reveals more about the pandemic’s effect on economies. It is also more consequential.

 buoyancy 本意“浮力”，延伸“回升”——buoyant 繁荣的=booming

 surge v.急剧上升——upsurge n.飙升

 lockdown 封锁——be under lockdown 处于封锁状态

 eight out of ten 十个里有八个

 series 一般用于data series”一组数据”，这里也只“数据”

 timely a. 及时的——a timely remainder 及时的提醒，in a timely manner 及时地做……

 up (by) x% on… 相比…增加x%；down (by) x% on… 相比…减少x%

 nominal price 名义价格——real price 实际价格

 consequential a. 产生重要结果的

In the past year the rate at which Americans can obtain 30-year fixed-rate(固定利率的) mortgages has fallen by roughly a quarter, to about 2.9%. As well as making monthly mortgage payments(月供) more affordable, low rates make houses more attractive, because they depress the returns on alternative safe investments. Other economic policies are also helping. Mass government support for household incomes(家庭收入), as well as mortgage-repayment holidays(贷款还款假期), have saved jobless workers from having to sell their homes, as they otherwise(ad. 要不然) might. Britain has temporarily suspended(暂停(实施)) stamp duty(印花税), a tax on buying houses.

 monetary policy 货币政策

 loose 宽松的——expansionary 扩张的；contractionary 紧缩的

 mortgage 按揭贷款 [ˈmɔːɡɪdʒ]

 depress 使沮丧；使萧条——the Great Depression 大萧条

 return 利润=earning/yield——rate of return回报率;return on investment(ROI)投资回报

 save sb. from doing sth. 让某人免于做…

Structural forces(结构性力量) are at work(起作用), too. Job losses this year have been concentrated among low-paid service-sector workers, who are more likely to rent than buy. Professionals who have carried on working from home(WFH居家办公) but cut back on their spending have accumulated cash to splash—and, with time spent at home rising, what better moment to buy a bigger pad? The unequal effects(不平等的影响) of the pandemic have allowed prices to surge even as banks have curtailed their riskiest loans.

 low-paid /high-paid worker 低收入/高收入劳动者(工作者是被发工资)；low-paying/high-paying job 低收入/高收入工作(工作造成发工资，主动)

 cut back on… 削减…

 splash 泼洒；花一大笔钱

 pad 软垫；公寓(过时)

 curtail 限制、缩减

 creditworthy 信用良好的——credit investigation 征信，newsworthy值得报道的，praiseworthy值得称赞的

 bidding 竞标，竞买

 first-time buyers 第一次购房者

 economic downturn 经济衰退——economic upturn 经济好转

Housing is a bigger asset class than equities and its ownership is more dispersed.房产是比股票更大的资产类别，并且所有者更加分散(，它所产生的影响会更加广泛)。 … Pricey(pricy 昂贵的(非正式)) houses make life tangibly harder for swathes of would-be homebuyers who struggle to raise the minimum down-payment(首付) necessary to get a mortgage and join the club that can benefit from low rates. The problem is most acute in countries that see home ownership as a rite of passage(标志进入另一阶段的重大事件). In such places high prices drive young people towards leftist(左翼的) populists and threaten the social contract.

 equities 股票

 dispersed 分散的

 riches n. 大笔金钱、财富

 tangibly 实际地——tangible，intangible 有形的，无形的；intangible cultural heritage非物质文化遗产

 a swathe of 一长条、大部分

 would-be… 想成为…的人；准…——has-been… 过气的

 populist 平民主义的——populism 平民主义，elitism 精英主义

Perhaps the boom will cool(冷却) as government support for the economy falls. … If so, in the 2020s they will deepen the intergenerational tensions that were already emerging in the 2010s. The fact that the economic costs of fighting the disease are mostly being borne by the young mostly to protect the lives of the elderly makes the problem knottier still.

 roomy 宽敞的=spacious

 legacy 遗产，历史遗留问题

 intergenerational tension 代际紧张关系——inter+generational

 be borne by sb. 由某人承担——bear 承担

 knotty 棘手的——knot 绳结

In the 2010s politicians failed to get to grips with high house prices. They often responded to them by further subsidising home-buying. … Rather, governments should cease to indulge national obsessions with(痴迷…) owning property.

 get to grips with sth. 开始处理某事——grip 抓紧

 subsidise v. 提供津贴——subsidy n. 津贴、补助

 distort v. 扭曲

 futile a. 徒然的=pointless

 cease to do sth. 停止做某事——ceasefire n. 停火

 indulge  vt. 纵容——indulge sth.

That means creating a well-regulated(规范的) rental sector(租房市场) which offers security of tenancy(租赁), removing subsidies for owner-occupation(拥有住房的人=people owning their homes) and easing planning restrictions(planning permission建筑规划许可) to the point where housing no longer looks like a magic money tree(摇钱树) accessible only to those fortunate enough to start out with pots of cash. … Such levies are an efficient way of plugging budget shortfalls(缺口). They would also recoup some of the windfall gains(意外的巨额收入) that lucky homeowners have enjoyed.

 security 保障——safety 安全

 levy n. 税款；v. 收税

 plug v. 补足——plug the gap填补缺口

 recoup v. 收回

To the extent that robust house-price growth represents confidence in the prospects for an economic recovery(经济恢复), it is welcome. But in no other context(上下文；背景) would the contrast between asset prices and the present condition of labour markets cause as much discomfort(不适) for those who are missing the party.

 robust 稳健的

 in no other context(倒装句，强调) would A cause as much discomfort for B 没有别的情况会使A让B更不适=恰恰是这样的情况