Greece and Ireland have made heroic budget cuts. Greece is trying hard to free up its rigid economy. Portugal has lagged in scrapping stifling rules, but its fiscal tightening is bold.

希腊和爱尔兰纷纷缩减财政预算，行为可真为大胆，希腊尽力从低迷经济走出来，葡萄牙迟迟没有废除窒息规则，但财政紧缩相当大胆。

youdao

High payroll taxes in many Latin American countries penalise workers in the formal economy, and rigid and over-generous Labour laws discourage the creation of formal jobs.

拉丁美洲高额的薪水税率使正式经济体中的工人处于不利地位，一成不变且过分仁慈的劳动法也阻碍了正式工作的革新。

youdao

Schools and universities, for example, are vital for the shift to an economy driven by brainpower instead of cheap labour, but they remain state-run, rigid and mediocre.

比如说，要促使经济由廉价劳动力驱动向智力驱动转变，大学和各种学校发挥着重要作用，可是，这些机构依旧掌握在国家手中，体制僵硬，质量平平。

youdao

But German confidence has begun to crumple under the weight of an increasingly outdated and rigid economy, which was once the envy of Europe.

ECONOMIST: Lumbering to the finishing-post

Greece is trying hard to free up its rigid economy.

ECONOMIST: The euro zone's periphery

Most economists think these are all terrible ideas: they would make the economy rigid just when it needs to be flexible.

ECONOMIST: Sexophobia