1981年1月20日，星期二
……
The business of our nation goes forward．These United States are confronted with an economic affliction of great proportions．We suffer from the longest and one of the worst sustained inflations in our national history．It distorts our economic decisions，penalizes thrift，and crushes the struggling young and the fixed－income elderly alike．It threatens to shatter the lives of millions of our people．
我们国家的事业在继续前进。合众国正面临巨大的经济困难。我们遭遇到我国历史上历时最长、最严重之一的通货膨胀，它扰乱着我们的经济决策，打击着节俭的风气，压迫着正在挣扎谋生的青年人和收入固定的中年人，威胁着要摧毁我国千百万人民的生计。
Idle industries have cast workers into unemployment，causing human misery and personal indignity．Those who do work are denied a fair return for their labor by a tax system which penalizes successful achievement and keeps us from maintaining full productivity．
停滞的工业使工人失业、蒙受痛苦并失去了个人尊严。即使那些有工作的人，也因税收制度的缘故而得不到公正的劳动报酬，因为这种税收制度使我们无法在事业上取得成就，使我们无法保持充分的生产力。
But great as our tax burden is，it has not kept pace with public spending．For decades，we have piled deficit upon deficit，mortgaging our future and our childrens future for the temporary convenience of the present．To continue this long trend is to guarantee tremendous social，cultural，political，and economic upheavals．
尽管我们的纳税负担相当沉重，但还是跟不上公共开支的增长。数十年来，我们的赤字额屡屡上升，我们为图目前暂时的方便，把自己的前途和子孙的前途抵押出去了。这一趋势如果长此以往，必然引起社会、文化、政治和经济等方面的大动荡。
You and I，as individuals，can，by borrowing，live beyond our means，but for only a limited period of time．Why，then，should we think that collectively，as a nation，we are not bound by that same limitation？
作为个人，你们和我可以靠借贷过一种入不敷出的生活，然而只能维持一段有限的时期，我们怎么可以认为，作为一个国家整体，我们就不应受到同样的约束呢？
We must act today in order to preserve tomorrow．And let there be no misunderstanding—we are going to begin to act，beginning today．
为了保住明天，我们今天就必须行动起来。大家都要明白无误地懂得——我们从今天起就要采取行动。
The economic ills we suffer have come upon us over several decades．They will not go away in days，weeks，or months，but they will go away．They will go away because we，as Americans，have the capacity now，as we have had in the past，to do whatever needs to be done to preserve this last and greatest bastion of freedom．
我们深受其害的经济弊病，几十年来一直袭击着我们。这些弊病不会在几天、几星期或几个月内消失，但它们终将消失。它们之所以终将消失，是因为我们作为现在的美国人，一如既往地有能力去完成需要完成的事情，以保存这个最后而又最伟大的自由堡垒。
In this present crisis，government is not the solution to our problem．
在当前这场危机中，政府的管理不能解决我们面临的问题。政府的管理就是问题所在。
From time to time，we have been tempted to believe that society has become too complex to be managed by self－rule，that government by an elite group is superior to government for，by，and of the people．But if no one among us is capable of governing himself，then who among us has the capacity to govern someone else？
我们时常误以为，社会已经越来越复杂，已经不可能凭借自治方式加以管理，而一个由杰出人物组成的政府要比民享、民治、民有的政府高明。可是，假如我们之中谁也管理不了自己，那么，我们之中谁还能去管理他人呢。
All of us together，in and out of government，must bear the burden．The solutions we seek must be equitable，with no one group singled out to pay a higher price．
我们大家——不论政府官员还是平民百姓——必须共同肩负起这个责任，我们谋求的解决办法必须是公平的，不要使任何一个群体付出较高的代价。
We hear much of special interest groups．Our concern must be for a special interest group that has been too long neglected．It knows no sectional boundaries or ethnic and racial divisions，and it crosses political party lines．It is made up of men and women who raise our food，patrol our streets，man our mines and our factories，teach our children，keep our homes，and heal us when we are sick－professionals，industrialists，shopkeepers，clerks，cabbies，and truck drivers．They are，in short，“We the people，”this breed called Americans．
我们听到许多关于特殊利益集团的谈论，然而，我们必须关心一个被忽视了太久的特殊利益集团。这个集团没有区域之分，没有人种之分，没有民族之分，没有政党之分，这个集团由许许多多的男人与女人组成，他们生产粮食，巡逻街头，管理厂矿，教育儿童，照料家务和治疗疾病。他们是专业人员、实业家、店主、职员、出租汽车司机和货车驾驶员，总而言之，他们就是“我们人民”——这个称之为美国人的民族。