2019年经济学人 一周要闻 美联储或七月降息 脸书发行libra代币 加密货币价格走高

 

Jerome Powell raised concerns about the world economy, warning that the “global risk picture has changed”, and that there was “greater uncertainty” over trade. The comments from the chairman of the Federal Reserve bolstered¹ those who are betting on the central bank reducing interest rates in July. Mr Powell also stressed that the FED won’t bow to pressure in its decision-making. In his latest outburst Donald Trump², who wanted the FED to cut rates this month, tweeted that it “doesn’t know what it is doing” and is behaving “like a stubborn child”.

杰罗姆·鲍威尔(Jerome Powell)对全球经济表示担忧，他警告称，“全球风险状况已发生变化”，贸易方面存在“更大的不确定性”。美联储主席的言论印证了那些猜测美联储将在7月降息的民众。鲍威尔还强调，美联储不会在决策过程中屈服于压力。特朗普希望美联储本月降息，他最近一次爆发怒火时发推特称，美联储“不知道自己在做什么”，表现得“像个固执的孩子”。

Financial regulators responded coolly to Facebook’s plan to launch a global digital currency, to be called Libra. Mark Carney, the governor of the Bank of England, said that Libra could become “systemic” and would “have to be subject to the highest standards of regulation”. Randal Quarles, the head of the Financial Stability Board, which advises the G20, warned that the use of “cryptoassets” deserves “close scrutiny”. Their comments, along with several others, suggest that Facebook will have to jump many hurdles³ to get Libra up and running.

Facebook计划推出一种名为Libra的全球数字货币，金融监管机构对此反应冷淡。英国央行(BOE)行长马克·卡尼(Mark Carney)表示，Libra可能会变得“系统性”，“必须接受最高标准的监管”。为G20提供咨询的金融稳定委员会(Financial Stability Board)主席兰德尔·夸尔斯(Randal Quarles)警告称，“加密资产”的使用值得“密切关注”。他们的评论，以及其他一些人的评论，表明Facebook将不得不跨越许多障碍，扶持并推行Libra。

The publicity⁴ surrounding Libra helped boost the price of cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin traded above $13,000, its highest level in 18 months, rekindling⁵ fears about a bubble in the market.

围绕Libra的宣传帮助推高了加密货币的价格。比特币交易价格超过1.3万美元，为18个月来的最高水平，再次引发了对市场泡沫的担忧。

America’s Supreme⁶ Court overturned a long-standing ban on trademarks⁷ that use “immoral” or “scandalous” words on the grounds that it violated the right to free speech and had been imposed unevenly⁸. The case was brought by the owner of a clothing line he brands as FUCT (Friends U Can’t Trust).

美国最高法院推翻了一项长期以来禁止使用“不道德”或“诽谤性”词语的商标的禁令，理由是该禁令侵犯了言论自由权，而且强制施行不公平。这起案件是由一家服装公司的老板提起的，他经营的公司名字为FUCT(无法信任的朋友)。

Netflix is to lose the rights to broadcast the American version of “The Office” because NBCUniversal, the sitcom’s producer, wants to run it on its new, yet-to-be-named streaming service from 2021. “The Office” is Netflix’s most popular show in America. With rival streaming channels in the works from Disney, WarnerMedia and others, Netflix faces the prospect⁹ of losing more content made by other companies, which, despite the plaudits for the media it produces in-house, accounts for the bulk of users’ viewing time.

Netflix将失去美国版《办公室》的播放权，因为这部情景喜剧的制片方NBCUniversal希望从2021年起在其尚未命名的新流媒体服务上播放这部剧。《办公室》是Netflix在美国最受欢迎的电视剧。随着迪士尼(Disney)、华纳传媒(WarnerMedia)和其他公司竞争性流媒体频道的涌现，Netflix可能会失去更多由其他公司制作的内容。尽管Netflix内部制作的媒体广受好评，但这些内容占据了用户大部分的观看时间。

An industry report suggested that the global market for spandex is expanding, with sales set to reach 1m tonnes by the end of 2020. The main reason is that demand for sports “shapewear” has stretched beyond the rich world to the emerging-market middle class. Invented in 1958 by a chemist in Virginia, the spandex industry is now highly elastic¹⁰, with China accounting¹¹ for 75% of the world’s production.

一份行业报告显示，全球氨纶市场正在扩大，到2020年底，氨纶的销量将达到100万吨。主要原因是对运动“塑身衣”的需求已经从富裕国家延伸到新兴市场的中产阶级。1958年，弗吉尼亚州的一位化学家发明了氨纶，现在氨纶工业具有高度的弹性，中国的氨纶产量占世界总产量的75%。

1 bolstered   

v.支持( bolster的过去式和过去分词 )；支撑；给予必要的支持；援助

参考例句：

• He bolstered his plea with new evidence. 他举出新的证据来支持他的抗辩。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• The data must be bolstered by inferences and indirect estimates of varying degrees of reliability. 这些资料必须借助于推理及可靠程度不同的间接估计。 来自辞典例句

2 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。

3 hurdles   

n.障碍( hurdle的名词复数 )；跳栏；（供人或马跳跃的）栏架；跨栏赛

参考例句：

• In starting a new company, many hurdles must be crossed. 刚开办一个公司时，必须克服许多障碍。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• There are several hurdles to be got over in this project. 在这项工程中有一些困难要克服。 来自辞典例句

4 publicity   

n.众所周知，闻名；宣传，广告

参考例句：

• The singer star's marriage got a lot of publicity.这位歌星的婚事引起了公众的关注。
• He dismissed the event as just a publicity gimmick.他不理会这件事，只当它是一种宣传手法。

5 rekindling   

v.使再燃( rekindle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• There might be a rekindling of the kind of nationalistic fervour of yesteryear. 过去的国家主义狂热可能再次被点燃。 来自互联网
• Bryant and O'Neal on the floor at the same time, rekindling memories both good and bad. 科比和奥尼尔在地板上在同一时间，死灰复燃的回忆有好有坏。 来自互联网

6 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

7 trademarks   

n.（注册）商标( trademark的名词复数 )；（人的行为或衣着的）特征，标记

参考例句：

• Motrin and Nuprin are trademarks of brands of ibuprofen tablets. Nuprin和Motrin均是布洛芬的商标。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Many goods in China have the trademarks of a panda. 中国的许多商品都带有熊猫的商标。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 unevenly   

adv.不均匀的

参考例句：

• Fuel resources are very unevenly distributed. 燃料资源分布很不均匀。
• The cloth is dyed unevenly. 布染花了。

9 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

10 elastic   

n.橡皮圈，松紧带；adj.有弹性的；灵活的

参考例句：

• Rubber is an elastic material.橡胶是一种弹性材料。
• These regulations are elastic.这些规定是有弹性的。

11 accounting   

n.会计，会计学，借贷对照表

参考例句：

• A job fell vacant in the accounting department.财会部出现了一个空缺。
• There's an accounting error in this entry.这笔账目里有差错。