美国国家公共电台 NPR--Why a strong U.S. dollar could be great for some and harmful to others

Why a strong U.S. dollar could be great for some and harmful to others

Transcript¹

The U.S. dollar is appreciating in value against other currencies — an increase that comes with some benefits, but can also potentially be a drag on the economy.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Thanks to inflation, the U.S. dollar's value is eroding² at home. But when you trade your dollars against other currencies overseas, its value is growing. Adrian Ma and Wailin Wong, our colleagues over at NPR's The Indicator³, explain who benefits and who doesn't.

ADRIAN MA, BYLINE⁴: According to a couple of popular indicators⁵ that track the value of the dollar against a whole bunch of other currencies, the dollar has appreciated somewhere between 8 and 13% just in the past year. When we were looking around for a guest to help explain why the dollar is getting stronger, our producer found an economist⁶ from the Brookings Institution named David Dollar. And we thought, come on.

DAVID DOLLAR: Right. So there's a word for this, you know - an aptronym - someone whose name is appropriate for their employment. So like, a Baker⁷ who's a baker. So I have an aptronym. I'm an economist, focusing very much on the international economy, named Dollar.

WAILIN WONG, BYLINE: So he's a perfect person to explain why the dollar is stronger right now.

MA: Yeah. And David says a big reason for it is that, well, there's a lot of turmoil⁸ and uncertainty⁹ in the world right now.

DOLLAR: So whenever there's a big, unexpected event in the world, people tend to come into dollars. We call it a safe haven¹⁰ currency.

MA: And we're talking about money being moved from big institutional investors¹¹, like banks and retirement¹² funds. They're looking for a relatively¹³ stable place to park that money.

WONG: On top of seeking safety, though, investors, as always, are looking to make money. And that's another reason the dollar is up.

DOLLAR: Right now. Our U.S. government 10-year bond is paying 2.8%. And that's a big increase just in the last few months.

MA: But in order for international investors to get that sweet, sweet U.S. government bond yield, they have to buy U.S. bonds. And to do that, they've got to get their hands on some U.S. dollars. And so that is where investors turn to the foreign exchange markets.

WONG: One thing worth emphasizing here - a stronger dollar is usually not great for consumers in other countries. It means American goods and services are more expensive.

MA: And here's one other group that is also hurt by a stronger dollar - multinational¹⁴ corporations like Apple and Tesla or Procter & Gamble. Because they get so much of their revenue from consumers in other countries, big shifts in the exchange rates could influence where and how they do business.

DOLLAR: If you're serving the world, what you do in the United States is now going to be more expensive, and what you do in other countries is going to be less expensive in a sense. So you might shift some activities out of the United States. You know, for example, if you have multiple plants and you have a little bit of excess capacity, you might idle a plant in the United States and rely more on plants in other countries.

WONG: Obviously not good for the American workers in those plants.

MA: Yeah. And that is a really good point. Also, a stronger dollar can be a drag on the economies of a lot of different countries. It could mean U.S. goods get more expensive for them or their debts in U.S. dollars get harder to pay off. And that is not great, especially for emerging market economies. And then, on top of that, through the push and pull of the global financial ecosystem¹⁵, that can bounce back to the home of the dollar, the U.S.

WONG: Wailin Wong

MA: Adrian Ma, NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF MOKHOV'S "GOLDEN WAVES")

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 eroding   

侵蚀，腐蚀( erode的现在分词 )； 逐渐毁坏，削弱，损害

参考例句：

• The coast is slowly eroding. 海岸正慢慢地被侵蚀。
• Another new development is eroding the age-old stereotype of the male warrior. 另一个新现象是，久已形成的男人皆武士的形象正逐渐消失。

3 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。

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 indicators   

（仪器上显示温度、压力、耗油量等的）指针( indicator的名词复数 )； 指示物； （车辆上的）转弯指示灯； 指示信号

参考例句：

• The economic indicators are better than expected. 经济指标比预期的好。
• It is still difficult to develop indicators for many concepts used in social science. 为社会科学领域的许多概念确立一个指标仍然很难。

6 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。

7 baker   

n.面包师

参考例句：

• The baker bakes his bread in the bakery.面包师在面包房内烤面包。
• The baker frosted the cake with a mixture of sugar and whites of eggs.面包师在蛋糕上撒了一层白糖和蛋清的混合料。

8 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。

9 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。

10 haven   

n.安全的地方，避难所，庇护所

参考例句：

• It's a real haven at the end of a busy working day.忙碌了一整天后，这真是一个安乐窝。
• The school library is a little haven of peace and quiet.学校的图书馆是一个和平且安静的小避风港。

11 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

12 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。

13 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

14 multinational   

adj.多国的，多种国籍的；n.多国籍公司，跨国公司

参考例句：

• The firm was taken over by a multinational consulting firm.这家公司被一个跨国咨询公司收购。
• He analyzed the relationship between multinational corporations and under-developed countries.他分析了跨国公司和不发达国家之间的关系。

15 ecosystem   

n.生态系统

参考例句：

• This destroyed the ecosystem of the island.这样破坏了岛上的生态系统。
• We all have an interest in maintaining the integrity of the ecosystem.维持生态系统的完整是我们共同的利益。