2019年经济学人 一周要闻 贸易担忧扰乱全球市场 特朗普介入大型并购案 欧央行加息推迟至2020年

 

The world this week

本周要闻

Business

商业

The proposed merger² of T-Mobile and Sprint³, first floated in April last year, faced a fresh hurdle⁴ as a group of American states led by California and New York launched a lawsuit⁵ to block it. The states are challenging the deal because it is “exactly the sort of consumer-harming, job-killing mega-merger our antitrust laws are designed to prevent”, according to Letitia James, New York’s attorney-general.

于去年4月首次提出的T-Mobile与Sprint合并提案面临着新障碍，以加州和纽约为首的美国几个州发起诉讼，试图阻止这项合并案。纽约州总检察长莱蒂夏·詹姆斯(Letitia James)表示，各州之所以反对这项交易，原因在于“这正是反垄断法旨在防止的那种损害消费者利益、不利于就业的大型并购案例”。

Antitrust concerns were also voiced when United Technologies Corporation announced its intention to merge¹ its aerospace⁶ business with Raytheon, creating a $166bn behemoth in the industry. UTC provides electronics and communications systems mainly to commercial airlines and Raytheon sells defence equipment, including the Patriot⁷ missile system, to the Pentagon. They hope the civil/military split of their interests will satisfy competition regulators. Donald Trump⁸ has already waded⁹ in, suggesting that the new “big, fat, beautiful company”, will raise costs for America’s armed forces.

联合技术公司（UTC）宣布有意将其航空航天业务与雷声公司合并，打造出规模达1660亿美元的行业巨擘，此举也引发了反垄断担忧。联合技术公司主要向商业航空公司提供电子和通信系统，而雷声公司则向国防部出售包括“爱国者导弹系统”在内的国防设备。他们希望民用/军用利益的分割能够满足竞争监管机构的要求。特朗普已经介入，暗示这家新成立的“大型、阔绰、华丽的公司”将提高美国军队的成本。

Worries over trade continued to unsettle global markets. “The rising threat of protectionism” was citied by Mario Draghi, the president of the European Central Bank, as one factor in its decision on June 6th to postpone¹⁰ further rises in interest rates until at least the middle of 2020. Mr Draghi pledged to use “all instruments” under his control to avert¹¹ an economic setback¹² in the euro zone.

对贸易的担忧继续扰乱着全球市场。6月6日，欧洲央行决定将进一步加息至少推迟至2020年年中，欧洲央行行长马里奥·德拉吉(Mario Draghi)将“保护主义威胁日益加剧”列为原因之一。德拉吉承诺，将利用权力范围内的“所有工具”，避免欧元区出现经济倒退。

Market jitters¹³ caused investors¹⁴ to flee to safe assets. The German government sold ten-year Bunds at a yield of -0.24%, meaning the buyers will lose money if they hold the bonds until they mature. It was the bond’s lowest yield on record in a direct auction¹⁵.

市场的恐慌导致投资者转投安全资产。德国政府以-0.24%的收益率出售了10年期国债，这意味着如果买家持有这些债券直至到期，他们将蒙受损失。在这次直接拍卖中，这是该债券有记录以来的最低收益率。

1 merge   

v.(使)结合，(使)合并，(使)合为一体

参考例句：

• I can merge my two small businesses into a large one.我可以将我的两家小商店合并为一家大商行。
• The directors have decided to merge the two small firms together.董事们已决定把这两家小商号归并起来。

2 merger   

n.企业合并，并吞

参考例句：

• Acceptance of the offer is the first step to a merger.对这项提议的赞同是合并的第一步。
• Shareholders will be voting on the merger of the companies.股东们将投票表决公司合并问题。

3 sprint   

n.短距离赛跑；vi. 奋力而跑，冲刺；vt.全速跑过

参考例句：

• He put on a sprint to catch the bus.他全速奔跑以赶上公共汽车。
• The runner seemed to be rallied for a final sprint.这名赛跑者似乎在振作精神作最后的冲刺。

4 hurdle   

n.跳栏，栏架；障碍，困难；vi.进行跨栏赛

参考例句：

• The weather will be the biggest hurdle so I have to be ready.天气将会是最大的障碍，所以我必须要作好准备。
• She clocked 11.6 seconds for the 80 metre hurdle.八十米跳栏赛跑她跑了十一秒六。

5 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。

6 aerospace   

adj.航空的，宇宙航行的

参考例句：

• The world's entire aerospace industry is feeling the chill winds of recession.全世界的航空航天工业都感受到了经济衰退的寒意。
• Edward Murphy was an aerospace engineer for the US Army.爱德华·墨菲是一名美军的航宇工程师。

7 patriot   

n.爱国者，爱国主义者

参考例句：

• He avowed himself a patriot.他自称自己是爱国者。
• He is a patriot who has won the admiration of the French already.他是一个已经赢得法国人敬仰的爱国者。

8 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。

9 waded   

（从水、泥等）蹚，走过，跋( wade的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She tucked up her skirt and waded into the river. 她撩起裙子蹚水走进河里。
• He waded into the water to push the boat out. 他蹚进水里把船推出来。

10 postpone   

v.延期，推迟

参考例句：

• I shall postpone making a decision till I learn full particulars.在未获悉详情之前我得从缓作出决定。
• She decided to postpone the converastion for that evening.她决定当天晚上把谈话搁一搁。

11 avert   

v.防止，避免；转移(目光、注意力等)

参考例句：

• He managed to avert suspicion.他设法避嫌。
• I would do what I could to avert it.我会尽力去避免发生这种情况。

12 setback   

n.退步，挫折，挫败

参考例句：

• Since that time there has never been any setback in his career.从那时起他在事业上一直没有遇到周折。
• She views every minor setback as a disaster.她把每个较小的挫折都看成重大灾难。

13 jitters   

n.pl.紧张(通常前面要有the)

参考例句：

• I always get the jitters before exams. 我考试前总是很紧张。
• The whole city had the jitters from the bombing. 全城居民都为轰炸而心神不宁。

14 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

15 auction   

n.拍卖；拍卖会；vt.拍卖

参考例句：

• They've put the contents of their house up for auction.他们把房子里的东西全都拿去拍卖了。
• They bought a new minibus with the proceeds from the auction.他们用拍卖得来的钱买了一辆新面包车。