美下届政府恐遇严峻经济挑战

It's a scenario Kotlikoff said will eventually bankrupt the country if political leaders do nothing. But finding agreement will be difficult.

柯特利科夫说，如果政治领袖不采取行动，上述情况终将令国家破产。但是，政治领袖很难达成协议。

With the majority of election spending now being financed by the top one half of one percent of the American population, former U.S. undersecretary of Commerce Robert Shapiro said a handful of wealthy donors can now dictate who gets what done in Congress.

鉴于当前的大部分竞选经费是由美国人口中最富裕的0.5%的人资助的，美国前商务部副部长罗伯特•夏皮洛说，一小撮资助竞选的富人可以干预国会的决策。

"What that is doing is exacerbating a polarization, which has developed in the last 15 years - and a polarization that is particularly dangerous because it's a polarization that coincides with a nearly even division of the country," said Shapiro.

他说：“这使得极端化问题加剧，过去15年来出现了政治极端化，而美国的这种极端化尤其危险，因为这种极端化同时伴随着近乎势均力敌的分歧力量。”

While the panel insists the slowly recovering U.S. economy remains among the most dynamic and most resilient in the world - Shapiro said today's highly contentious climate could lead to political paralysis on the most important economic issues of the day.

尽管这个经济专家组坚称，经济复苏缓慢的美国仍是世界上最有活力、最具弹性的经济体之一，但夏皮洛说，如今的极端化氛围可能会使美国在当前最重要的经济问题上陷入政治瘫痪。