The annualrelease of the Forbes 400 list of Richest Americans has become an important part of the country's Horatio Alger faith. All those new billionaires, starting out with little or nothing, working hard and riding a great idea to vast wealth.
美国《福布斯》杂志(Forbes)每年发布的"全美400富豪榜"(400 list of Richest Americans)已经成为美国梦的重要一部分，就像霍瑞修口爱尔杰(Horatio Alger)的励志小说一样鼓舞人心。很多新入榜的亿万富翁都是白手起家，辛勤劳作，在实现自己伟大梦想的过程中积累起巨大的财富。
Only this year tells a different story: A scarcity of new wealth, and a hardening of the plutocracy.
不过，今年的富豪榜讲述了一个不同的故事：新贵寥寥无几，老钱熠熠生辉。
This year there were only 16 new members of the 400, compared with 19 last year (the worst economic year for the richest Americans) and far less than the roaring 2000s, when 40 to 50 newly minted billionaires were joining the list annually.
2010年的全美400富豪只有16位是新入榜的，而2009年有19位（那是美国大富豪日子最不好过的一年），同时也比新人辈出的21世纪头十年要少得多，那时每年都有四五十名崭新出炉的亿万富翁入榜。
Part of the enduring myth of the Forbes list is mobility. Anyone can become a billionaire with luck, pluck and venture capital. At the same time, anyone can fall off. Wealth is fluid, with the mailboxes in Billionaireville constantly changing names.
福布斯排行榜之所以能长盛不衰，一部分原因在于入榜者的流动性。任何一个有运气、有胆识、敢冒险的人都有机会成为亿万富翁；但同时，任何亿万富翁都有可能从云端跌落。财富就像水一样不断流动，亿万富翁村的信箱名字始终都在变化当中。
But mobility among billionaires seems to be declining. Bill Gates tops the list for the 17th straight year, with Warren Buffett once again No. 2, followed by Larry Ellison and the Walton family - as per previous years. The Koch brothers moved up a few notches, but that doesn't seem like real mobility.
然而，全美400富豪榜的流动性似乎正在下降。今年比尔•盖茨(Bill Gates)已经连续17年位居榜首，沃伦•巴菲特(Bill Gates)再次名列第二，拉里•埃里森(Larry Ellison)和沃尔顿家族(Walton family)紧随其后──这些排名常年保持不变。科赫兄弟(Koch brothers)的排名前进了几位，但也不算什么实质性的变化。
What is even more troubling than the slowing of mobility of the super-rich are the sources of new wealth. Most of the 16 new members of the Forbes list are in old industries: coal, natural gas, chemicals and casinos. Not exactly the formula for America's vaunted entrepreneurial wealth machine.
比起财富榜的缺乏变化来说，新入榜富豪的财富来源更是一个值得关注的问题。今年的16位新贵大多来自传统行业：采煤、天然气、化工和赌场。这可不太符合美国一直在鼓吹的"创新铸就成功"模式。
Yes, there are the Three Amigos from Facebook. But there are no new billionaires from tech, or the Green Economy, or biotechnology or any other revolutionary product or industry.
诚然，Facebook的三位创始人是榜上有名的，但IT、绿色经济、生物科技和其它创新产品或行业都没有诞生出新的亿万富翁。
New wealth is being created, even in this economy. But in the U.S., it just seems to be going to the already wealthy, since the Forbes listers as a whole increased their fortunes 8%. Tomorrow's American rich don't seem to be doing as well.
即使在目前不景气的经济环境下，新的财富也依然在被不断创造出来；但在美国，新的财富似乎只是给有钱人锦上添花了，因为入榜者的整体财富比去年增长了8%。未来的美国富豪似乎很难超越这一表现。
Do you think America's plutocracy is becoming stale? Why?
你认为美国富豪阶层正在成为一潭死水吗？为什么？
Robert Frank
- annual [´ænjuəl]
a.每年的 n.年刊 (初中英语单词) - release [ri´li:s] vt&n.释放；放松；赦免 (初中英语单词)
- working [´wə:kiŋ] a.工人的；劳动的 (初中英语单词)
- wealth [welθ] n.财富，财产 (初中英语单词)
- venture [´ventʃə] n.投机 v.冒险；敢于 (初中英语单词)
- constantly [´kɔnstəntli] ad.经常地；不断地 (初中英语单词)
- previous [´pri:viəs] a.先，前，以前的 (初中英语单词)
- economy [i´kɔnəmi] n.经济；机制；组织 (初中英语单词)
- wealthy [´welθi] a.富有的；丰富的 (初中英语单词)
- formula [´fɔ:mjulə] n.公式；配方；原则 (高中英语单词)
- revolutionary [,revə´lu:ʃənəri] a.革命的 n.革命者 (高中英语单词)
- scarcity [´skeəsiti] n.缺乏；不足；稀少 (英语四级单词)
- warren [´wɔrən] n.养兔场；大杂院 (英语四级单词)
- enduring [in´djuəriŋ] a.持久的 (英语六级单词)
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