美国国家公共电台 NPR Fed Cuts Interest Rates To Prop Up The Slowing Economy

 

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

The Federal Reserve is expected to try to pump a little more air into the tires of the U.S. economy today. Those tires have been showing some signs of a slow leak, and central bankers are hoping to avoid an economic flat. The Fed's widely expected to cut interest rates for only the second time since the Great Recession. But it's not clear that's the boost the economy needs right now.

Here's NPR's Scott Horsley.

SCOTT HORSLEY, BYLINE¹: The Fed will announce its decision on interest rates this afternoon. And economist² Kathy Bostjancic of Oxford³ Economics says financial markets will be both watching and listening - watching for the anticipated quarter-point rate cut and also listening for what Fed Chairman Jerome Powell has to say about it.

KATHY BOSTJANCIC: Powell just has to be very clear that we are going to do whatever it takes to sustain the expansion.

HORSLEY: Powell's been trying to send that message. He told an audience in Switzerland this month the Fed is not predicting a recession. But he acknowledged the economy could stall if the ongoing⁴ tariff⁵ war rattles⁶ enough businesspeople to the point where they stop spending.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

JEROME POWELL: Uncertainty⁷ around trade policy is causing some companies to hold back now on investment. And so our obligation is to use our tools to support the economy. And that's what we'll continue to do.

HORSLEY: Powell and his colleagues also pointed⁸ to trade uncertainty back in July, when they cut interest rates for the first time in more than a decade. The stock market wasn't satisfied, in part because Powell seemed to suggest at the time that might be the last rate cut for a while. Bostjancic says she's hoping for not only an additional rate cut today, but a signal about more cuts in the future.

BOSTJANCIC: It will be clear it's not one and done. But he has to be careful that it's not two and done. He needs to leave the door open clearly to future rate cuts.

HORSLEY: Bostjancic is actually predicting two more rate cuts in October and December. But even with that extra push from the Fed, she thinks economic growth will slow next year to just 1.6%. The trade war isn't the only economic speed bump. You've also got slowing growth in other countries, the dwindling⁹ effects of the 2017 tax cut and, after the weekend attack in Saudi Arabia, uncertainty about oil prices.

Nervous about a slowing economy, President Trump¹⁰ has been browbeating¹¹ the Fed to cut interest rates more aggressively to zero or even lower. Others, including former New York Fed president Bill Dudley, have argued the central bank should stand pat and let Trump feel the political fallout from the trade war he started. Powell has repeatedly insisted the Fed will not be swayed by political pressure from either side.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

POWELL: Political factors play absolutely no role in our process. And my colleagues and I would not tolerate any attempt to include them.

HORSLEY: The stock market is counting on a rate cut today and would likely suffer a sell-off if Powell and his colleagues don't deliver. But economist Matthew Luzzetti of Deutsche Bank says it's not clear lower interest rates will do much to help the nation's struggling factories.

MATTHEW LUZZETTI: We see the driving force of the slowdown, certainly in manufacturing, as trade uncertainty. And cutting the Fed funds rate is not going to be able to fully¹² alleviate¹³ that uncertainty.

HORSLEY: Factories and others have cut back on investment, not because it's too expensive to borrow money, but because they're not sure they can sell their products. In that environment, Luzzetti says, cutting interest rates can only do so much. What would help is an end to the trade war. And in recent days, there have been signs of a possible thaw¹⁴ in U.S.-China trade relations. Still, Bostjancic says she's not convinced a trade truce¹⁵ is imminent¹⁶.

BOSTJANCIC: Right now, that's all talk. You know, we have seen that before. We've seen encouraging talk. And then, both the markets and business leaders - and consumers - everyone ends up being disappointed because not only is there no trade truce, it actually ends up being ratcheted higher.

HORSLEY: The president has already ordered another tariff increase on Chinese imports in mid-October if no agreement is reached before then.

Scott Horsley, NPR News, Washington.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONIC YOUTH'S "DISCONNECTION NOTICE")

1 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。

2 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。

3 Oxford   

n.牛津（英国城市）

参考例句：

• At present he has become a Professor of Chemistry at Oxford.他现在已是牛津大学的化学教授了。
• This is where the road to Oxford joins the road to London.这是去牛津的路与去伦敦的路的汇合处。

4 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

5 tariff   

n.关税，税率；(旅馆、饭店等)价目表，收费表

参考例句：

• There is a very high tariff on jewelry.宝石类的关税率很高。
• The government is going to lower the tariff on importing cars.政府打算降低进口汽车的关税。

6 rattles   

（使）发出格格的响声， （使）作嘎嘎声( rattle的第三人称单数 )； 喋喋不休地说话； 迅速而嘎嘎作响地移动，堕下或走动； 使紧张，使恐惧

参考例句：

• It rattles the windowpane and sends the dog scratching to get under the bed. 它把窗玻璃震得格格作响，把狗吓得往床底下钻。
• How thin it is, and how dainty and frail; and how it rattles. 你看它够多么薄，多么精致，多么不结实；还老那么哗楞哗楞地响。

7 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。

8 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

9 dwindling   

adj.逐渐减少的v.逐渐变少或变小( dwindle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The number of wild animals on the earth is dwindling. 地球上野生动物的数量正日渐减少。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He is struggling to come to terms with his dwindling authority. 他正努力适应自己权力被削弱这一局面。 来自辞典例句

10 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。

11 browbeating   

v.（以言辞或表情）威逼，恫吓( browbeat的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Mr Zha urges America to refrain from browbeating China into accepting distant targets for future reductions. 查先生敦促美国不要威胁中国为今后减少排放而去接受这遥远的目标。 来自互联网

12 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。

13 alleviate   

v.减轻，缓和，缓解(痛苦等)

参考例句：

• The doctor gave her an injection to alleviate the pain.医生给她注射以减轻疼痛。
• Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。

14 thaw   

v.（使）融化，（使）变得友善；n.融化，缓和

参考例句：

• The snow is beginning to thaw.雪已开始融化。
• The spring thaw caused heavy flooding.春天解冻引起了洪水泛滥。

15 truce   

n.休战，(争执，烦恼等的)缓和；v.以停战结束

参考例句：

• The hot weather gave the old man a truce from rheumatism.热天使这位老人暂时免受风湿病之苦。
• She had thought of flying out to breathe the fresh air in an interval of truce.她想跑出去呼吸一下休战期间的新鲜空气。

16 imminent   

adj.即将发生的，临近的，逼近的

参考例句：

• The black clounds show that a storm is imminent.乌云预示暴风雨即将来临。
• The country is in imminent danger.国难当头。