2019年经济学人 美国经济:空欢喜一场(2)

 

The real economy had also shown some signs of an approaching downturn, however.

但实体经济也显示出一些衰退即将来临的迹象。

Business confidence had soured and the housing market, so often a leading indicator¹ of economic trouble, had sagged².

商业信心已下降，住房市场（通常是经济问题的先行指标）也已下跌。

At the start of 2019 came more bad news, as a lengthy³ partial federal-government shutdown depressed⁴ both output and consumer sentiment.

2019年年初又传来了更多的坏消息，由于部分联邦政府长期停罢，产出和消费者信心都受到压制。

The economy had been expected to cool a little anyway, as the impetus⁵ from the Trump⁶ administration's fiscal⁷ stimulus⁸ faded.

随着特朗普政府财政刺激动因的消失，不管怎样，经济有望稍微降温。

The fear that a soft landing might turn into a hard one did not seem far-fetched.

对软性经济滑坡可能变成硬着陆的担忧并非牵强。

Jesse Edgerton, an economist⁹ at JPMorgan Chase, says there are still reasons to be cautious, notably¹⁰ weak business confidence.

摩根大通公司的经济学家Jesse Edgerton表示，仍有理由保持谨慎，尤其是疲弱的商业信心。

But more recent data have looked rosier¹¹. Sentiment among consumers has rebounded¹².

但更多的近期数据看起来更加乐观。消费者信心已回弹。

Jobs growth in March recovered from a hiccup¹³ in February (April's figures are due on May 3rd, after The Economist went to press).

3月就业率从2月的短暂下跌中恢复（4月的数据将在5月3日《经济学人》出版后公布）。

And although GDP growth of 3.2% in the first quarter hid some softening¹⁴ components¹⁵, recent trends suggest that they will bounce back.

虽然第一季度GDP 3.2%的增长隐藏了一些疲软因素，但近期趋势表明它们将再次回弹。

Investors¹⁶ in the stockmarket seem to have forgotten the whole scare,

股市投资者似乎已经忘记了整个恐慌，

and to believe that the economy will grow fast enough to produce profits but not so fast that the Fed will have to intervene.

并且他们相信经济将迅速增长并足以产生利润，但却不足以快到让美联储进行干预。

Investors in government debt seem warier¹⁷. They are still betting that the Fed will cut interest rates at least once by the end of the year.

政府债务投资者似乎比较谨慎。他们仍打赌美联储将在今年年底至少减息一次。

For now, the Fed has decided¹⁸ to sit tight. Since the stockmarket wobbles late last year, a different difficulty has become much more obvious.

目前，美联储已经决定按兵不动。自去年年底股市动乱以来，一个不同的困难已经变得更加明显了。

Inflation, which the Fed had expected to hover¹⁹ around 2%, fell to just 1.6% in March,

3月的通货膨胀（美联储希望膨胀徘徊在2%左右）跌至仅1.6%，

based on a measure that excludes (volatile) food and energy prices.

以一种不包括（挥发性）食物和能源价格在内的测量方法为基础进行测量。

On May 1st Mr Powell said that he saw good reasons to expect it to be "transitory".

5月1日，鲍威尔先生表示他有充分的理由认为这只是“暂时的”。

But that is not the behaviour expected of an economy that is humming along nicely.

但这并不是一个运行良好的经济体应有的行为。

It is a better problem for the Fed to face than an imminent²⁰ recession—but it is a problem, all the same.

对美联储来说，这是一个比即将到来的衰退更好的问题—但它仍是一个问题。

1 indicator   

n.指标；指示物，指示者；指示器

参考例句：

• Gold prices are often seen as an indicator of inflation.黃金价格常常被看作是通货膨胀的指标。
• His left-hand indicator is flashing.他左手边的转向灯正在闪亮。

2 sagged   

下垂的

参考例句：

• The black reticule sagged under the weight of shapeless objects. 黑色的拎包由于装了各种形状的东西而中间下陷。
• He sagged wearily back in his chair. 他疲倦地瘫坐到椅子上。

3 lengthy   

adj.漫长的，冗长的

参考例句：

• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。
• The professor wrote a lengthy book on Napoleon.教授写了一部有关拿破仑的巨著。

4 depressed   

adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的

参考例句：

• When he was depressed,he felt utterly divorced from reality.他心情沮丧时就感到完全脱离了现实。
• His mother was depressed by the sad news.这个坏消息使他的母亲意志消沉。

5 impetus   

n.推动，促进，刺激；推动力

参考例句：

• This is the primary impetus behind the economic recovery.这是促使经济复苏的主要动力。
• Her speech gave an impetus to my ideas.她的讲话激发了我的思绪。

6 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

7 fiscal   

adj.财政的，会计的，国库的，国库岁入的

参考例句：

• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。
• The government has two basic strategies of fiscal policy available.政府有两个可行的财政政策基本战略。

8 stimulus   

n.刺激，刺激物，促进因素，引起兴奋的事物

参考例句：

• Regard each failure as a stimulus to further efforts.把每次失利看成对进一步努力的激励。
• Light is a stimulus to growth in plants.光是促进植物生长的一个因素。

9 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

10 notably   

adv.值得注意地，显著地，尤其地，特别地

参考例句：

• Many students were absent,notably the monitor.许多学生缺席，特别是连班长也没来。
• A notably short,silver-haired man,he plays basketball with his staff several times a week.他个子明显较为矮小，一头银发，每周都会和他的员工一起打几次篮球。

11 rosier   

Rosieresite

参考例句：

• Rosier for an instant forgot the delicacy of his position. 罗齐尔一时间忘记了他的微妙处境。
• A meeting had immediately taken place between the Countess and Mr. Rosier. 伯爵夫人和罗齐尔先生已经搭讪上了。

12 rebounded   

弹回( rebound的过去式和过去分词 )； 反弹； 产生反作用； 未能奏效

参考例句：

• The ball rebounded from the goalpost and Owen headed it in. 球从门柱弹回，欧文头球将球攻进。
• The ball rebounded from his racket into the net. 球从他的球拍上弹回网中。

13 hiccup   

n.打嗝

参考例句：

• When you have to hiccup,drink a glass of cold water.当你不得不打嗝时，喝一杯冷水就好了。
• How long did he hiccup?他打嗝打了多久？

14 softening   

变软，软化

参考例句：

• Her eyes, softening, caressed his face. 她的眼光变得很温柔了。它们不住地爱抚他的脸。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）
• He might think my brain was softening or something of the kind. 他也许会觉得我婆婆妈妈的，已经成了个软心肠的人了。

15 components   

（机器、设备等的）构成要素，零件，成分； 成分( component的名词复数 )； [物理化学]组分； [数学]分量； （混合物的）组成部分

参考例句：

• the components of a machine 机器部件
• Our chemistry teacher often reduces a compound to its components in lab. 在实验室中化学老师常把化合物分解为各种成分。

16 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

17 warier   

谨慎的，小心翼翼的( wary的比较级 )

参考例句：

• Beijing itself also become warier. 中国政府本身也变得更为谨慎。
• That suggests investors are warier than ever of lending to the banking system. 这种情况表明，投资者对借钱给银行系统的担忧比之前加剧了。

18 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

19 hover   

vi.翱翔，盘旋；徘徊；彷徨，犹豫

参考例句：

• You don't hover round the table.你不要围着桌子走来走去。
• A plane is hover on our house.有一架飞机在我们的房子上盘旋。

20 imminent   

adj.即将发生的，临近的，逼近的

参考例句：

• The black clounds show that a storm is imminent.乌云预示暴风雨即将来临。
• The country is in imminent danger.国难当头。