STRIKES, BREAD riots and “socialistic agitation(煽动；骚动)”: these worldwide expressions of discontent had a common cause, argued Irving Fisher, an economist at Yale University, in 1912. That shared grievance(不满；怨恨) was the rising “cost of living”. The problem was felt in places as far apart as(相距遥远的) Canada and India, France and Japan. To expect any single locality to tackle the forces at work was almost as absurd as expecting “villagers on the Bay of Fundy to attempt to prevent the rise of the tides”.(指望任何单一地方去应对这些力量，几乎就像指望芬迪湾的村民阻止潮水上涨一样荒谬。)
罢工、面包骚乱和“社会主义煽动”：耶鲁大学经济学家欧文·费雪在1912年指出，这些遍布全球的不满表达有一个共同原因。这个共同的不满就是不断上涨的“生活成本”。从加拿大到印度，从法国到日本，各地都感受到了这个问题。指望任何一个地方独自应对这些起作用的力量，几乎就像指望“芬迪湾的村民去阻止潮水上涨”一样荒谬。
The IMF agrees with him. In its latest World Economic Outlook, the fund’s economists look at more recent increases in the cost of living. The tides reached their highest points in 2007-08, when food and oil prices rose in tandem(同步地；一前一后地), and in 2022, after the invasion of Ukraine. Since the closure of the Strait of Hormuz(霍尔木兹海峡，全球石油运输咽喉) the cost of living has once again been on the rise. During these crises, global factors have accounted for about 70% of the increase in the typical rich country, the IMF’s authors calculate.(IMF的作者们计算，在这些危机期间，全球因素约占典型富裕国家涨幅的70%。) But of course national politicians tend to get closer to 100% of the blame.
国际货币基金组织（IMF）同意他的观点。在其最新的《世界经济展望》中，该基金的经济学家审视了近年来生活成本的上涨。潮水在2007-08年达到最高点，当时食品和石油价格同步上涨；2022年俄罗斯入侵乌克兰后再次达到高点。自霍尔木兹海峡关闭以来，生活成本再次上升。IMF的作者们计算，在这些危机期间，全球因素约占典型富裕国家涨幅的70%。但当然，各国政客往往要承担接近100%的指责。
What counts as a cost-of-living crisis (or, to Americans, an “affordability(可负担性；支付能力)” crisis)? For most people, the answer is obvious. They know it when they see it printed on their shopping bill or posted outside a petrol station. But Fisher was keen to distinguish a “mere(仅仅的；纯粹的) rise in prices”, otherwise known as inflation, from “a rise in prices more rapid than the rise in incomes”. A trolleyful of goods can cost more money without becoming any harder to obtain, if wages are rising just as fast.(如果工资上涨得同样快，一购物车的商品可以花更多钱，却不会变得更难获得。)
什么才算生活成本危机（或者对美国人来说，“可负担性”危机）？对大多数人来说，答案显而易见。当他们看到购物账单上或加油站外张贴的价格时，就明白了。但费雪热衷于区分“单纯的价格上涨”（即通胀）和“价格上涨速度快于收入上涨速度”。如果工资上涨得同样快，一购物车的商品可以花更多钱，却不会变得更难获得。
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