ON AT LEAST one day this month, Delhi’s chief minister rode the metro, a high court judge in central India cycled to work, a politician in Kashmir hailed(招呼（车辆）) a horse-drawn(马拉的) carriage and the leader of Bihar walked the entire 500 or so(大约、左右) metres to his office. The elected head of Maharashtra, India’s richest state, made perhaps the biggest sacrifice(牺牲、奉献) of all. He flew economy(乘坐经济舱).
本月至少有一天，德里首席部长乘坐地铁，印度中部的一位高等法院法官骑自行车上班，克什米尔的一位政治家叫了一辆马车，比哈尔邦领导人步行了大约500米到办公室。印度最富有的马哈拉施特拉邦的民选首长做出了也许最大的牺牲——他乘坐经济舱。
State leaders were heeding(听从、注意) Narendra Modi’s call for austerity. Energy supplies are disrupted and the rupee has nosedived(暴跌、急降) since Donald Trump embarked on(开始、着手) his war in the Middle East. Yet it took two full months(花了整整两个月) for India to enact emergency measures or allow fuel prices to rise (just a bit). Instead, in a speech on May 10th the prime minister listed seven things Indians could do to help. Work from home, he said. Use less fuel. Avoid foreign trips. Buy Indian goods. Defer gold purchases. Consume less edible oil. And of course, avoid using fertilisers. Linking all these is the need to conserve precious dollars(节省宝贵的美元).
各邦领导人正在响应纳伦德拉·莫迪的紧缩号召。自唐纳德·特朗普发动中东战争以来，能源供应中断，卢比暴跌。然而，印度花了整整两个月才实施紧急措施或允许燃油价格上涨（仅小幅上涨）。相反，在5月10日的讲话中，总理列出了印度人可以做七件事来提供帮助：他说，居家办公，减少燃料使用，避免出国旅行，购买印度商品，推迟购买黄金，减少食用油消费，当然还有避免使用化肥。所有这些措施的核心是节省宝贵的美元。
This is bad economics; better to let prices determine demand, with support for the poorest. It is worse politics. With the exception of buying gold, which all Indians do, and shunning(回避、避开) fertilisers, which only organic farmers do, the message was plainly directed at India’s elite. They are the only people who have ever needed to find the unmute button(静音解除按钮) on Zoom. They are the only ones who can afford foreign holidays or the fuel guzzled(大量消耗（油）) by their thirsty(渴求的（喻）) SUVs. They are a patriotic bunch. They support Mr Modi. They are fed up(受够了、厌倦).
这是糟糕的经济学；更好的做法是让价格决定需求，同时为最贫困者提供支持。而政治上则更糟。除了购买黄金（所有印度人都做）和避免使用化肥（只有有机农民会做）之外，这一信息显然针对的是印度精英。他们是唯一需要找到Zoom静音按钮的人，是唯一能负担得起出国度假或他们耗油的SUV所吞噬的燃料的人。他们是一群爱国者，支持莫迪先生。但他们受够了。