英文原文ing-bottom: 81.09%;">Americans do not go in for envy. The gap between rich and poor is bigger than in any other advanced country, but most people are unconcerned. Whereas Europeans fret about the way the economic pie is divided, Americans want to join the rich, not soak them. Eight out of ten, more than anywhere else, believe that though you may start poor, if you work hard, you can make pots of money. It is a central part of the American Dream. The political consensus, therefore, has sought to pursue economic growth rather than the redistribution of income, in keeping with John Kennedy's adage that "a rising tide lifts all boats." The tide has been rising fast recently. Thanks to a jump in productivity growth after 1995, America's economy has outpaced other rich countries' for a decade. Its workers now produce over 30% more each hour they work than ten years ago. In the late 1990s everybody shared in this boom. Though incomes were rising fastest at the top, all workers' wages far outpaced inflation. 參考譯文：美國人心態很平和。他們並不太在意各自收入間的差別，儘管事實上沒有哪個別的發達國家的貧富差距像美國這麼大。這和歐洲人截然不同。歐洲人對全民收入的分配很是上心。美國人則不一樣，他們是想要成爲富人，而對打垮富人並無興趣。十有八九的國民堅信即使出身貧寒，只要通過努力，也能飛黃騰達。這不正是美國夢的精髓所在嗎？ 於是美國政界一致認爲，與其回過頭來均分財富，還不如實現經濟的增長。這也和美國前總統約翰.肯尼迪的那句有名的"水漲船高"不謀而合。美國經濟這十幾年的增長速度不可謂不快。隨着1995年以來生產率的飛漲，美國經濟的發展十二年來一直領先於其他強國，如今的生產效率是十年前的1.3倍。在上世紀的最後十年，所有公民都從中嚐到了甜頭。儘管那些高收入者獲益更大，但所有人的工資增長幅度都遠勝於通貨膨脹的速度。
