最新的Axios经济报告以一个白宫官员恐怕不愿看到的句子开头：“距离中期选举还有五周，美国人的钱包之痛正在加剧：今年大半时间里，薪资涨幅未能跟上通胀，借贷成本飙升。”一周前，《华尔街日报》报道称，“痛苦指数”（将通胀率和失业率相加）目前高于唐纳德·特朗普第二任期开始时的水平。
The latest Axios report on the economy starts with a sentence White House officials are probably not going to like: “Five weeks before the midterms, Americans’ pocketbook pain is getting worse: paychecks haven’t kept up with inflation for the better part of this year, and borrowing costs have surged.”A week earlier, The Wall Street Journal reported that the “misery index,” which combines the inflation and unemployment rates, is higher now than when Donald Trump’s second term began.
相关数据点不胜枚举：燃油价格大幅上涨；抵押贷款利率突破7%；农民陷入困境；取暖费攀升；多项全国民调清楚地表明，美国主流民众对经济现状极度不满。
The list of relevant data points is not short: Fuel prices have increased sharply; mortgage rates have topped 7%; farmers are struggling; heating bills are climbing; and several national polls have made it painfully clear that the American mainstream is thoroughly dissatisfied with the economic status quo.
对于一位常规总统而言，形势需要巧妙应对：现任总统如何在审慎承认公众不满的同时，让民众对未来充满信心？
For a normal president, the circumstances warrant a deft touch: How does an incumbent carefully acknowledge public discontent, while offering reassurances about better days ahead?
但对于这位绝非常规的现任总统来说，似乎是时候采取另一种策略了：唐纳德·特朗普想让美国人相信他，而不是相信自己的钱包。
For the current president, who’s anything but normal, it’s apparently time for a different strategy: Donald Trump wants Americans to believe him instead of their wallets.
例如，周日总统坚称“几乎”所有东西的消费价格都“大幅下降”，这简直荒谬。一天后，在白宫的一个活动上，特朗普继续发表言论。
On Sunday, for example, the president insisted that consumer prices on “almost” everything had “come way down,” which is ridiculous. A day later, at a White House event, Trump kept going.
“我们拥有有史以来最好的经济，”这位共和党人辩称，完全无视现实。
“We have the best economy we’ve ever had,” the Republican argued, reality be damned.
随后，在同一个椭圆形办公室聚会上，总统似乎指着白宫记者团成员说：“你们每个人的财富都是短时期内的两倍。这都归功于我。大家玩得开心。”简言之，这就是特朗普在早期投票正式拉开帷幕之际向选民传递的信息：你们认为经济糟糕透顶，你们正深陷负担不起的危机，但一切实际上都很棒。
Later, at the same Oval Office gathering, the president appeared to point at members of the White House press corps and said, “You’re twice as wealthy as you were a short time ago, every one of you. And that’s because of me. Have a good time, everybody.”And this, in a nutshell, is Trump’s message to the electorate as the early voting period gets underway in earnest: You the economy is awful, and you you’re struggling with an affordability crisis, but everything’s actually awesome.
最新的CNN全国民调于上周发布，结果显示66%的美国人认为特朗普的议程“恶化了经济状况”；28%的人认为当前经济状况良好；仅有27%的公众认可总统对经济的处理。
The latest national CNN poll, released last week, found that 66% of Americans believe Trump’s agenda has “worsened economic conditions;” 28% describe current economic conditions as good; and just 27% of the public approves of the president’s handling of the economy.
特朗普可以继续对民众撒谎，声称这是美国人眼中见过的最伟大的经济，但一般来说，告诉选民不要相信自己的钱包是注定失败的策略。
Trump can keep lying to people about this being the single greatest economy ever seen by American eyes, but as a rule, telling voters not to believe their own wallets is a losing proposition.