Thanks to a more flexible economy, smarter central bankers and lower inflation, recessions tend to be shorter and shallower.

幸好美国经济复杂多元，央行行动迅速，还有通胀率很低，这次衰退不会持续很长时间，程度也不会很深。

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The longer wavelengths, such as red and orange, are absorbed very quickly and penetrate into the water to a much shallower depth than the shorter blue and violet wavelengths.

波长越长，如红色和橙色，比波长较短的蓝色和紫色穿透到浅水的深度很快被会吸收得很多。

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First Minister Alex Salmond said the recession had been both shorter and shallower in Scotland compared with the UK as a whole.

BBC: Scottish jobless figures show first rise in months

He predicts stimulus moves funded by extra borrowing - such as the VAT cut - will see a "shorter and shallower" slowdown than feared.

BBC: Gloomy prediction for UK economy

So instead we believe we need to act now to set our economy and our public finances on a sustainable path - because doing so will help make the recession shorter and shallower.

BBC: In full: Cameron's economy speech