美国国家公共电台 NPR--Silicon Valley is breathing a sigh of relief after Biden's remarks on the bank crisis

Silicon¹ Valley is breathing a sigh of relief after Biden's remarks on the bank crisis

Transcript²

President Biden spoke³ this morning about the government's efforts to protect the banking⁴ system, after two regional banks collapsed⁶ in recent days.

SACHA PFEIFFER, HOST:

President Biden spoke a short time ago to try to reassure⁷ bank depositors around the country that their money is protected.

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PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: Today, thanks to the quick action of my administration over the past few days, Americans can have confidence that the banking system is safe.

PFEIFFER: Biden's remarks come after the shocking collapse⁵ of Silicon Valley Bank last week and the forced closure of a second bank in New York over the weekend. NPR's Scott Horsley joins us now. Hi, Scott.

SCOTT HORSLEY, BYLINE⁸: Good morning, Sacha.

PFEIFFER: What did the president have to say?

HORSLEY: Biden spoke in the Roosevelt Room at the White House, and he's trying to avoid the kind of nationwide bank fallout that President Franklin Roosevelt had to contend with during the Great Depression. The president's message to people across the country is, the money you have in the bank is safe.

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BIDEN: Your deposits will be there when you need them. Small businesses across the country that deposit accounts at these banks can breathe easier knowing they'll be able to pay their workers and pay their bills. And their hardworking employees can breathe easier as well.

HORSLEY: Now, beyond those soothing⁹ words from the president, the government has taken some extraordinary steps here, saying depositors at both of these failed institutions will be fully¹⁰ protected, no matter how much money they had in the bank. Ordinarily, deposit insurance covers only a quarter million dollars per account. But the FDIC is waving that limit and saying depositors will get all their money back. And what's more, the Federal Reserve is setting up a new lending facility that other banks can tap so they don't get into the same kind of trouble. The Fed's acting¹¹ as lender of last resort here, and it's hoped that will also foster confidence in the banking system.

PFEIFFER: And, Scott, tell us more about the practical effect of this.

HORSLEY: Well, there's going to be a huge sigh of relief in Silicon Valley. You know, a lot of tech companies, including start-ups, had their money tied up in Silicon Valley Bank. When its doors were closed on Friday, there was enormous concern about whether those companies would be able to make payroll¹², whether some of them would even be able to stay in business. On the flip¹³ side, though, there is a risk of moral hazard here. You know, is the government now obligated to protect other depositors at other banks, no matter how much money they have? Is this going to encourage reckless behavior by banks? We're already hearing complaints from some quarters that the government's protecting wealthy tech companies at a time when lots of ordinary Americans are suffering financial hardship. President Biden went out of his way this morning to say this is not a bailout.

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BIDEN: No losses will be borne by the taxpayers¹⁴. Instead, the money will come from the fees that banks pay into the deposit insurance fund. Because of the actions of that - because of the actions that our regulators have already taken, every American should feel confident that their deposits will be there if and when they need them.

HORSLEY: Biden also stressed that the government will hold people responsible for bad decisions that may have contributed to these bank failures. He said the management of the banks has been fired. Investors¹⁵ in those banks are losing money, and we could see some additional bank regulation come out of this as well.

PFEIFFER: Scott, there are complicated economics behind what happened to Silicon Valley Bank. But can you give us a simplified version of why these banks got in trouble?

HORSLEY: Silicon Valley is kind of an unusual case. A lot of its customers are tech companies. Of course, the tech sector¹⁶, which had been flying very high, has recently fallen on somewhat harder times. As a result, some of those companies are having to withdraw more money from the bank. And so the bank had to sell a lot of government bonds to cover those withdrawals¹⁷. And in some cases, those bonds had lost value because of rising interest rates. When word of those bank losses got around, other depositors got worried about their money. They tried to take money out, and that sparked a classic bank run. Now, part of what the Fed hopes to do with its new lending facility is avoid that kind of fire sale by banks. It's saying to banks, if you need cash to cover withdrawals, we'll lend you the money so you don't have to sell bonds at a big loss.

PFEIFFER: NPR's Scott Horsley, thank you.

HORSLEY: You're welcome.

1 silicon   

n.硅(旧名矽)

参考例句：

• This company pioneered the use of silicon chip.这家公司开创了使用硅片的方法。
• A chip is a piece of silicon about the size of a postage stamp.芯片就是一枚邮票大小的硅片。

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 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

4 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。

5 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。

6 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

7 reassure   

v.使放心，使消除疑虑

参考例句：

• This seemed to reassure him and he continued more confidently.这似乎使他放心一点，于是他更有信心地继续说了下去。
• The airline tried to reassure the customers that the planes were safe.航空公司尽力让乘客相信飞机是安全的。

8 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。

9 soothing   

adj.慰藉的；使人宽心的；镇静的

参考例句：

• Put on some nice soothing music.播放一些柔和舒缓的音乐。
• His casual, relaxed manner was very soothing.他随意而放松的举动让人很快便平静下来。

10 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

11 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

12 payroll   

n.工资表，在职人员名单，工薪总额

参考例句：

• His yearly payroll is $1.2 million.他的年薪是120万美元。
• I can't wait to get my payroll check.我真等不及拿到我的工资单了。

13 flip   

vt.快速翻动；轻抛；轻拍；n.轻抛；adj.轻浮的

参考例句：

• I had a quick flip through the book and it looked very interesting.我很快翻阅了一下那本书，看来似乎很有趣。
• Let's flip a coin to see who pays the bill.咱们来抛硬币决定谁付钱。

14 taxpayers   

纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
• She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。

15 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

16 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

17 withdrawals   

n.收回，取回，撤回( withdrawal的名词复数 )；撤退，撤走；收回[取回，撤回，撤退，撤走]的实例；推出（组织），提走（存款），戒除毒瘾，对说过的话收回，孤僻

参考例句：

• He has made several withdrawals from his bank account. 他从银行账户上提了几次款。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• It is not the bank's policy to deduct interest on withdrawals. 提款需扣除利息这并非是本银行的政策。 来自辞典例句