双语新闻：通货膨胀让法国人吃不起面包

　　The French do not live by bread alone. But when the average price of the iconic baguette topped 1 for the first time last month, consumers from Picardie to Provence shuddered with apprehension. The price of the omnipresent crisp, golden loaf seemed to epitomize the rising cost of living and the shortage of cash in consumers' pockets. "If people see the price of a baguette go up while their buying power is stagnant or going down, well, they complain a little," says baker Jean-Pierre Cohier, who supplies baguettes to the French presidential palace.

　　In fact, they're complaining a lot about French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who came to office last May with a vow to be "the purchasing-power president." Unfortunately for him, in France and much of the rest of the world the rapidly inflating price of food is creating a dark mood about the cost of living that even the famously energetic "omni-president" Sarkozy can't dispel. Food inflation used to be seen as a problem mainly for developing countries. Now the bite, as it were, is being felt in the heart of Europe.

　　The issue may be arising first in France because the country spends so much of its income on eating—about 14 percent of total household spending, versus 7 percent in the United States. "The perception of inflation seen from the consumer side took off in August and since then is really skyrocketing," says Eric Chaney, who is Morgan Stanley's chief economist for Europe, "and the only rational reason for that perception is the rise in food prices."

　　法国人并不是单靠吃面包过活的。 但是，上个月当传统的棍子面包的最高价格第一次达到1欧元时，从庇卡底地区到普罗旺斯的消费者开始担忧了。无所不在的松脆的、金色的面包条的价格似乎概括了生活费用上升和消费者口袋里现金短缺的现象。给法国总统府供应棍子面包的面包师让·皮埃尔·库里尔说：“如果人们看到棍子面包价格上升，同时他们的购买力停滞不前或者下降，他们就会有所抱怨。”

　　事实上，他们对今年5月打着“购买力总统”旗号上台的法国总统尼古拉·萨科齐抱怨很多。对他来说，不幸的是在法国和世界其他许多地方，食品价格的快速通胀造成了一种有关生活费用的悲观情绪，即使是以精力充沛而著称的“全能”总统萨科齐也不能将其驱散。食物通胀过去主要被看成是发展中国家的一个问题。现在欧洲的中心地区也感到这一棘手的问题。

　　这个问题首先在法国发生，因为这个国家的国民收入中花在吃上的比例很高，约占家庭总开支的14%，而美国只占7%。摩根士丹利的首席欧洲经济学家埃里克 ·夏奈说：“消费者方面感觉到通货膨胀是在8月份，而后就直线上升。这种感觉唯一合理的原因就是食品价格的上涨。”