Politicians are frequently accused of short-termism(短期主义), so Australia’s intergenerational report(代际报告) (IGR) is unusual in projecting(预测，展望) the big trends affecting the economy, and in particular the federal budget, over a 40-year horizon(在40年的展望期内).
政客常被指责目光短浅，因此澳大利亚的代际报告（IGR）显得与众不同：它展望未来40年影响经济、尤其是联邦预算的重大趋势。
The former treasurer(财长) Peter Costello introduced the concept of the IGR, now in its seventh edition, shortly after the millennium. The idea was to garner(获得，争取) support for budget reforms given the challenges that were coming with an ageing population(人口老龄化) and a shrinking number of workers needed to support them. Oh, for the good old days(啊，多么怀念过去的好日子) when the “boomer bulge(婴儿潮一代的膨胀)” appeared to be the most significant budgetary problem that we faced.
前财长彼得·科斯特洛在千禧年后不久引入了代际报告的概念，如今已发布第七版。其目的是为预算改革争取支持，因为人口老龄化和支撑他们的劳动力数量萎缩带来了挑战。啊，多么怀念过去的好日子——那时“婴儿潮一代的膨胀”似乎是我们面临的最严重的预算问题。
With each new IGR, the challenges have been mounting(不断加剧的) – not just for Australia, but for the whole world. I’m certainly finding it harder and harder to keep my usually optimistic frame of mind(心态，心境) in the face of geopolitical fragmentation(地缘政治分裂), rising trade tensions, apocalyptic(末日的，灾难性的) predictions on AI, fading productivity, the climate crisis and demographic change(人口结构变化).
随着每一版新代际报告的发布，挑战不断加剧——不仅对澳大利亚，对全世界都是如此。面对地缘政治分裂、贸易紧张加剧、关于AI的末日预言、生产率下滑、气候危机和人口结构变化，我确实越来越难以保持通常乐观的心态。