零失業率並不是一件好事大綱

While on the surface it appears that a 0% unemployment rate would be terrific for the citizens of a country, having a small amount of unemployment is actually desirable.
從表面上看，零失業率對一個國家的公民來說應該是好到爆了，然而實際上保留一個小幅的失業率纔是好事。

To understand why we need to look at the three types (or causes) of unemployment.
要弄明白爲什麼，我們首先得來看看失業的三種形式。（或者說三種成因）

Cyclical Unemployment is defined as occurring "when the unemployment rate moves in the opposite direction as the GDP growth rate. So when GDP growth is small (or negative) unemployment is high." When the economy goes into recession and workers are laid off, we have cyclical unemployment.
週期性失業的定義是：失業率與GDP的增速呈負相關的關係。也就是說，當GDP增長率很小（或者爲負）的時候，失業率會很高。當一個經濟體進入衰退期，工人開始失業的時候，我們就遭遇了週期性失業。

Cyclical unemployment occurs when an economy's output deviates from potential GDP- i.e. the long-term trend level of output in an economy.
當一個經濟體的產出偏離潛在GDP的時候，也就是偏離長期的產出趨勢的時候，週期性失業就出現了。

When an economy's output is higher than the level of potential GDP, resources are utilized at levels higher than normal and cyclical unemployment is negative.
而當經濟體的產出比潛在GDP更高的時候，資源的利用率會比正常情況下更高，這時週期性失業率就會爲負。

Conversely, when an economy's output is lower than the level of potential GDP, resources are utilized at levels lower than normal and cyclical unemployment is positive.
反過來，如果經濟體的產出低於潛在GDP，資源的利用效率就會低於正常值，那週期性失業率就會爲正。

Put simply, cyclical unemployment is unemployment associated with business cycles- i.e. recessions and booms.
簡單地講，週期性失業是和經濟週期有關的失業，也就是衰退期和繁榮期。

Frictional Unemployment: We define frictional unemployment as "unemployment that comes from people moving between jobs, careers, and locations."
摩擦性失業：我們對摩擦性失業的定義是“當人們切換工作、行業或工作地點時發生的失業”。

If a person quits his job as an economics researcher to try and find a job in the music industry, we would consider this to be frictional unemployment.
如果一個人辭掉了經濟學研究員的工作，轉而去音樂行業找工作，就屬於我們所說的摩擦性失業。

Frictional unemployment is unemployment that comes from people moving between jobs, careers, and locations- in other words, unemployment that arises because most people don't enter into a new job immediately after exiting an old one (voluntarily or involuntarily).
摩擦性失業會在人們切換工作、切換行業、切換工作地點的時候發生，換句話說，它的出現是因爲人們辭掉舊工作之後並不能立刻開始一個新工作。（不管是自願的還是非自願的）

Frictional unemployment is not thought to be a big problem from a policy standpoint because it is entirely reasonable that people would take some time to find a job that is a good match rather than take the first opportunity that comes along.
從政策的角度來講，摩擦性失業並不是一個大問題，因爲它的成因完全可以理解，人們肯定更傾向於花點時間找個真正適合自己的工作，而不是單純接受眼前的第一個機會。

Technology that helps to match workers with jobs and streamline the interview and hiring process most likely result in the amount of frictional unemployment that exists in an economy.
那些幫助求職者匹配新工作的技術，以及幫助他們優化面試和招聘流程的技術，很可能導致了一個經濟體中摩擦性失業率的升高。

Structural Unemployment: We define structural unemployment as "unemployment that comes from there being an absence of demand for the workers that are available".
結構性失業：我們對結構性失業的定義是“當勞動力需求相較於現有求職者人數而言出現缺口時產生的失業。”

Structural unemployment is often due to technological change.
結構性失業通常來源於技術變革。

If the introduction of DVD players cause the sales of VCRs to plummet, many of the people who manufacture VCRs will suddenly be out of work.
如果DVD機的出現讓VCR的銷量暴跌，那麼很多生產VCR的人就會突然失去工作。

By looking at these three types of unemployment, we can see why having some unemployment is a good thing.
看了這3種失業形式之後，我們就能明白爲什麼適當的失業率是好的了。

Most people would argue that since cyclical unemployment is the by-product of a weak economy, it is necessarily a bad thing, though some have argued that recessions are good for the economy.
很多人可能會說：由於週期性失業是經濟疲軟的副產品，所以它肯定是個壞事，雖然也有人說衰退對一個經濟體來說有好處。

What about frictional unemployment? Let's go back to our friend who quit his job as an economic research to pursue his dreams in the music industry.
那摩擦性失業呢？我們再來看看剛剛那位辭掉經濟學研究員工作轉而投身音樂界的朋友。

He quit a job he disliked to attempt a career at the music industry, even though it caused him to be unemployed for a short while.
他辭掉了一份自己不喜歡的工作，轉而尋求一份音樂界的工作，即使短暫失業也在所不惜。

Or consider the case of a person who is tired of living in Flint and decides to make it big in Hollywood and who arrives in Tinseltown without a job.
或者我們來想象一個厭倦了在小城弗林特生活的人，他決定去好萊塢尋求飛黃騰達的機會，於是以失業狀態來到了浮華城。

A great deal of frictional unemployment comes from people following their hearts and their dreams.
很大一部分摩擦性失業都是源於人們追尋自己的性子和夢想。

This is certainly a positive type of unemployment, though we would hope for these individuals' sakes that they do not stay unemployed for too long.
這當然是一種積極型的失業，不過我們希望這些人不要失業太久。

Finally, structural unemployment. When the car became commonplace, it cost a lot of buggy manufacturers their jobs. At the same time, most would argue that the automobile, on net, was a positive development.
最後，結構性失業。當汽車成爲常態的時候，很多馬車製造業的人失去了工作。而同時，大多數人會覺得自動化汽車從總體上來講是個積極的發展方向。

The only way we could ever eliminate all structural unemployment is by eliminating all technological advancement.
要消除所有的結構性失業，我們只能消除所有的技術進步。

By breaking down the three types of unemployment into cyclical unemployment, frictional unemployment, and structural unemployment, we see that an unemployment rate of 0% is not a positive thing.
在把失業拆分成周期性失業、摩擦性失業和結構性失業之後，我們可以看出來，零失業率並不是一件好事。

A positive rate of unemployment is the price we pay for technological development and for people chasing their dreams.
一點正向的失業，是我們爲技術進步與逐夢自由付出的代價。