nominal (dollar) terms 名义（美元）价
Versus Real Dollars (Also Known as Current Dollars Versus Constant Dollars)
Anything measured in dollars can be looked at in two ways.Nominal dollars (also referred to as current dollars) represents the actual amount of money spent or earned over a period of time.
用美元来估量的任何一种商品都可以被看成两种情况：名义美元（也可以指流通美元）指的是在一段时期之内所花费或者赚取的一定量的现金．
You'll see stories mentioning how American factory workers received total pay hikes of $500 million,or a 5% increase,in the last 12 months.Or perhaps you read that company A reported income from sales of sweaters climbed to $220 million that year,up from $200 million the year before,or a jump of 10%.These figures are based in nominal dollars.
你会看到一些故事提到在美国工场的工人在过去一年里收入增长5亿美元,或者增长了5个百分点．又或者你读到一份公司的收益表,是关于当年毛衣销量相比较于前一年2亿美元增长至2．2亿美元,或者是比前一年增长了10个百分点．这些数据都是基于名义美元价的．
However,nominal (or current) dollars gives you only part of the story.What's missing is how inflation can distort such numbers.Let's go back to the example of the earnings of factory workers.
然而,名义美元（或现金）只是给你了故事的一部分．可是通货膨胀却掩盖了这上数字背后的真相．让我们回过头来看看工厂工人的收入．
They might have seen their pay jump by 5% in nominal terms,but before anyone celebrates,someone should ask this question:"What if the price of goods and services (i.e.,inflation) rose by 4% during that same period?"
他们也许看到收入在名义美元的定义下增长了5个百分点,但是,在他们举杯庆祝之前,有人也许会问：”假如商品和服务（即：通货膨胀）同时上涨4个百分点?”
In that case,the wages of these workers rose by a less-than-impressive 1% in real (or constant) dollars.In other words,the actual increase in purchasing power these workers gained from their pay hike was far smaller than 5%.
在这种情况下,工人们的工资按真实美元（常量）来衡量,也就只涨了并不那么明显的1％．换句话说,工人们所得收入的增长就真实的购买力而言是远远小于5个百分点的．
Let's now look at company A.It noted that sales revenue jumped by 10%.However,that doesn't necessarily mean it sold 10% more sweaters.In fact,the firm ended up selling the same number of sweaters both years.The only reason it received more money in the second year is because the company raised the price of sweaters by 10%.Thus,the increase in real (constant) dollar sales was actually zero!
让我们来看看A公司,上面提到公司的年销售收入增长了10个百分点．然而这并不意味着公司毛衣的销售量比前一年增加了10％．实际上,这个公司结果只销售了与前年同量的毛衣．公司今年销量收入增长的唯一原因是因为毛衣销价比前一年增加了10％．那么,用真实（常量）美元来衡量,公司今年的收入增长等于零!
Nominal dollars simply reflects the present value of goods and services exchanged in the marketplace.However,real dollars tells you the true value of goods and services produced or sold because it strips out the effects of inflation.
名义美元只是来反映当前的商品以及服务在市场上的交换价．然而,真实美元告诉你商品及服务的生产及销售价值因为它剥去了通货膨胀给人们的假象．
When economists and investors want to compare the performance of the economy over different time frames,they generally look at both measures—nominal and real.
当经济学家和投资者想要比较不同时期结构的经济表现时,他们通常都会用两种方式来衡量－名义和真实．
They note the change in the size of the economy in nominal dollars because that points to what individuals,businesses,and the government actually spent.However,to find out if the economy genuinely expanded by producing more in quantity or volume,economists and investors look at the numbers in real-dollar terms.
他们会在经济范围关注名义美元,因为它可以表示个人,公司还有政府的实际花费．然而,如果要确定因为商品的生产或销售带来的经济是否真实的增长,经济学家或者投资者就要以真实美元价来衡量．
