美国国家公共电台 NPR--How Argentina is trying to win its struggle with an 83% rate of inflation

How Argentina is trying to win its struggle with an 83% rate of inflation

Transcript¹

Argentina's economy is in chaos² again. One way the government is attempting to prop³ up the quickly devaluing peso is by creating a complex web of rules and taxes on the exchange of foreign currencies.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

You think U.S. inflation is bad? Eight percent, more or less - certainly more than we're used to. But Argentina has an inflation rate of 83%. The government has announced new exchange rates between the U.S. dollar and the country's peso. Here's Amanda Aronczyk from NPR's Planet Money podcast.

AMANDA ARONCZYK, BYLINE⁴: Lucas Babic is 42 years old. He's a freelance video editor. He's originally from Brazil, but he's been living in Argentina for the past 30 years.

LUCAS BABIC: I've been suffering Argentina since '92.

ARONCZYK: When I call him on Zoom⁵, he is fuming⁶ about one of the new exchange rates set by the government.

BABIC: We have the Coldplay dollar.

ARONCZYK: He's also literally⁷ fuming. I watched him chain-smoke three cigarettes in a row.

BABIC: Coldplay is coming to Argentina. They're going to come to Argentina and play their songs that I hate - like, boring or whatever. But there is a Coldplay dollar. Can you believe it?

ARONCZYK: These are not dollars with lead singer Chris Martin's face on them, although that would be fun. It's a nickname for a particular exchange rate. There's also been a soy dollar, a Qatar dollar, a Netflix dollar.

NICOLAS SALDIAS: They're for different sectors⁸ of the economy and different economic activities.

ARONCZYK: Nicolas Saldias, an analyst⁹ with the Economist¹⁰ Intelligence Unit, says that that Qatar dollar - it's supposed to hit Argentines who are traveling to - where else? - Qatar next month to watch the World Cup. And it is a lousy exchange rate.

SALDIAS: The whole idea there is to disincentivize people to go outside to Qatar.

ARONCZYK: Because the government of Argentina wants people to spend their tourism dollars at home, not overseas. On the other hand, the soy dollar - that was a good exchange rate, set up to encourage exporters to sell their soybeans because that brings dollars into the country. Now, there is one more exchange rate, and this one is not set by the government.

BABIC: That's what we call the blue dollar.

ARONCZYK: A blue dollar is a U.S. dollar bought at the black market exchange rate. Everybody who can buys dollars because they will not lose value like the peso.

BABIC: If you can, like, hold on like a grudge¹¹ to dollars in Argentina, yes, you're rich.

ARONCZYK: Then mid-sentence...

BABIC: I'm really, like, standing¹² up and going away. I'm sorry.

ARONCZYK: OK, Lucas has, like, wandered away.

BABIC: But, like, for real...

(SOUNDBITE OF CONTAINER SHAKING)

BABIC: ...This is my shoebox.

ARONCZYK: He went to the closet, and now he's back. He is holding a plastic bin¹³ where he stashes¹⁴ U.S. dollars.

BABIC: I got - let me see - like, 10 and 20, and I wish I had more.

ARONCZYK: Lucas is like a lot of people in Argentina right now - hit by rising inflation, a shrinking peso, a dollar that keeps getting stronger.

BABIC: To get to the end of the month, you have to really, really work it out to pay the rent and the lights and the water and your phone.

ARONCZYK: Which is also what the government of Argentina is doing, trying to work it out by creating all of these different exchange rates because its shoebox of U.S. dollars is looking pretty empty, and the government needs dollars, too, to pay off billions in international debts and to keep the lights on.

Amanda Aronczyk, NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

1 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。

2 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

3 prop   

vt.支撑；n.支柱，支撑物；支持者，靠山

参考例句：

• A worker put a prop against the wall of the tunnel to keep it from falling.一名工人用东西支撑住隧道壁好使它不会倒塌。
• The government does not intend to prop up declining industries.政府无意扶持不景气的企业。

4 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。

5 zoom   

n.急速上升；v.突然扩大，急速上升

参考例句：

• The airplane's zoom carried it above the clouds.飞机的陡直上升使它飞到云层之上。
• I live near an airport and the zoom of passing planes can be heard night and day.我住在一个飞机场附近，昼夜都能听到飞机飞过的嗡嗡声。

6 fuming   

愤怒( fume的现在分词 )； 大怒； 发怒； 冒烟

参考例句：

• She sat in the car, silently fuming at the traffic jam. 她坐在汽车里，心中对交通堵塞感到十分恼火。
• I was fuming at their inefficiency. 我正因为他们效率低而发火。

7 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

8 sectors   

n.部门( sector的名词复数 )；领域；防御地区；扇形

参考例句：

• Berlin was divided into four sectors after the war. 战后柏林分成了4 个区。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Industry and agriculture are the two important sectors of the national economy. 工业和农业是国民经济的两个重要部门。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

9 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

10 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。

11 grudge   

n.不满，怨恨，妒嫉；vt.勉强给，不情愿做

参考例句：

• I grudge paying so much for such inferior goods.我不愿花这么多钱买次品。
• I do not grudge him his success.我不嫉妒他的成功。

12 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

13 bin   

n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件

参考例句：

• He emptied several bags of rice into a bin.他把几袋米倒进大箱里。
• He threw the empty bottles in the bin.他把空瓶子扔进垃圾箱。

14 stashes   

n.隐藏处( stash的名词复数 )v.贮藏( stash的第三人称单数 )；隐藏；藏匿；藏起

参考例句：

• The squirrel stashes away nuts for winter. 松鼠贮藏胡桃以备过冬。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• The giving up love, after stashes the love again, how always? 放弃爱，呜咽后再拥有爱，多么总？ 来自互联网