美国国家公共电台 NPR--3 economists win Nobel Prize in economic sciences for work on banks, financial crises

3 economists¹ win Nobel Prize in economic sciences for work on banks, financial crises

Transcript²

The Nobel panel at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm has announced the winners for the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences are Ben Bernanke, Douglas Diamond and Philip Dybvig.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Three Americans have been awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics for their work on bank runs and protecting the financial system. Ben Bernanke shares the prize with two academic economists, Douglas Diamond and Philip Dybvig. NPR's Scott Horsley joins us now with the details. Scott, good morning.

SCOTT HORSLEY, BYLINE³: Good to be with you, Steve.

INSKEEP: And so sorry that you did not win the Nobel Prize in economics once again, but your year may come. Anyway, it always seemed fortuitous that Ben Bernanke was the head of the Fed during the financial crisis because of his particular background.

HORSLEY: Yeah. His background was really as a historian of the Great Depression. He documented how the collapse⁴ of the financial system in the 1930s turned what might have been an ordinary recession into something much worse and longer lasting⁵. Bernanke then put those lessons to work when he was Fed chairman. During the financial crisis, he pioneered many of the emergency lending programs that were used during that crisis and then were dusted off again more recently during the pandemic downturn. Sharing the prize today, Douglas Diamond of the University of Chicago and Philip Dybvig of Washington University in St. Louis. They wrote an influential⁶ paper about the role that banks play as financial intermediaries, why it's so painful when they fail and steps that can be taken to prevent that.

INSKEEP: So what does their research show?

HORSLEY: Well, it shows that banks play a super important role. Of course, they take deposits from people who have extra money they don't need right now. And they lend it to people and businesses who do need the money to build houses and factories and businesses. And moving money around like that allows us to build a much more productive economy. The trouble is, there's a potential mismatch in timing⁷. The people that put deposits in the bank want to be able to take their money out when they want to. And of course, the people who've got that money tied up in houses and factories and businesses aren't necessarily ready to hand it right over. This, of course, is the classic Jimmy Stewart scene in "It's A Wonderful Life"...

INSKEEP: Oh, yeah.

HORSLEY: ...When, you know, folks want to get their money out. And it's not here. It's in Joe's house and Bill's house. There are ways to avoid those bank runs. Deposit insurance helps, using the Fed as a lender of last resort and, of course, bank regulation. As we say, some of those lessons were put to work during the financial crisis of 2008 and '09 and again during the pandemic downturn. And that's why, as challenging as those episodes were, we did manage to avoid another 1930-style depression.

INSKEEP: What is the relevance⁸ now, then?

HORSLEY: Well, this is obviously not strictly⁹ academic. Poor Professor Diamond was woken up very early this morning and asked to opine to a roomful of reporters on all sorts of current economic challenges - high inflation, the recent financial turmoil¹⁰ in the U.K. He did his best to navigate¹¹ this. He said that the commercial banking¹² system is much better capitalized, much better protected now. But he also warned that financial crises can start in dark corners of the financial system. And it's very hard to have both liquidity¹³ and security.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

DOUGLAS DIAMOND: I think we will probably always be subject to low-probability, unexpected crises.

HORSLEY: But at least the research developed by today's Nobel Prize winners does give us some tools to deal with those crises.

INSKEEP: NPR's Scott Horsley. Always appreciate your insights, and good luck next year.

HORSLEY: (Laughter) Thanks so much to you.

1 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

5 lasting   

adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持

参考例句：

• The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
• We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。

6 influential   

adj.有影响的，有权势的

参考例句：

• He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
• He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。

7 timing   

n.时间安排，时间选择

参考例句：

• The timing of the meeting is not convenient.会议的时间安排不合适。
• The timing of our statement is very opportune.我们发表声明选择的时机很恰当。

8 relevance   

n.中肯，适当，关联，相关性

参考例句：

• Politicians' private lives have no relevance to their public roles.政治家的私生活与他们的公众角色不相关。
• Her ideas have lost all relevance to the modern world.她的想法与现代社会完全脱节。

9 strictly   

adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地

参考例句：

• His doctor is dieting him strictly.他的医生严格规定他的饮食。
• The guests were seated strictly in order of precedence.客人严格按照地位高低就座。

10 turmoil   

n.骚乱，混乱，动乱

参考例句：

• His mind was in such a turmoil that he couldn't get to sleep.内心的纷扰使他无法入睡。
• The robbery put the village in a turmoil.抢劫使全村陷入混乱。

11 navigate   

v.航行，飞行；导航，领航

参考例句：

• He was the first man to navigate the Atlantic by air.他是第一个飞越大西洋的人。
• Such boats can navigate on the Nile.这种船可以在尼罗河上航行。

12 banking   

n.银行业，银行学，金融业

参考例句：

• John is launching his son on a career in banking.约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。
• He possesses an extensive knowledge of banking.他具有广博的银行业务知识。

13 liquidity   

n.流动性，偿债能力，流动资产

参考例句：

• The bank has progressively increased its liquidity.银行逐渐地增加其流动资产。
• The demand for and the supply of credit is closely linked to changes in liquidity.信用的供求和流动资金的变化有密切关系。