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The economy 美国经济 RECOVERIES from financial crises are usually subdued, but Americas is starting to lookcomatose. On May 26th the government said GDP grew by an annualised 1.8% in the firstquarter, identical to its preliminary estimate. Economists had hoped for an upward revision.Worse, as signs of weakness accumulate, forecasters have trimmed estimates for thecurrent quarter from around 3.5% they were projecting a month ago to 2.7% or less now. 从金融危机中恢复过来通常是一个缓慢而艰难的过程，但美国的恢复进程似乎就要陷入休克。5月26日，政府说一季度GDP按年增长率来计算增长了1.8%，与初始估算相符。经济学家们曾经希望实际情况可以更加乐观。更糟糕的是，由于经济疲软的迹象累加，预测者从一开始就把对当前季度的预测从一个月前的3.5%左右将到了2.7%,现在可能会更少。 Last December an agreement between Barack Obama and the Republicans to extend GeorgeBushs tax cuts and enact new ones led to forecasts of 3% to 4% growth this year. But thenew consensus rate of 2.6%, for a recovery now two years old, is barely above Americaslong-term potential and scarcely enough to bring unemployment down. To be sure, the post-crisis imperative for banks and households to reduce their debt meant a V-shaped reboundwas never on the cards. Even so, this is a terrible performance. | 
