In years past, two-tiered systems were used to drive down costs in hard times, but mainly at companies already in trouble.

过去几年中，双重标准体系是在艰难时期用来降低成本的，但是仅在已经陷入困境的公司中才有使用。

youdao

The trouble though is that you tell the very same story two different times and I find myself sometimes being pulled this way, sometimes being pulled that way.

问题在于你把同一个故事用不同方法讲了两次,误导我们有时偏爱肉体理论，有时偏爱人格理论。

耶鲁公开课 - 死亡课程节选

As goes messes, there have been two of them in our times of trouble.

FORBES: President Obama Doesn't Even Believe His Own Economic Hype