America's banking crisis shows few signs of subsiding, despite hundreds of billions of dollars spent by the federal government to prop up struggling financial institutions and unfreeze tight credit.
美国银行业危机没有出现任何缓和的迹象，虽然联邦政府投入了数千亿美元，力图支撑处于困境中的金融机构并解冻紧缩的信贷市场。对于下一步该采取什么行动，人们间的争执多于共识。
It is a basic and, perhaps, obvious truth: capitalism cannot function without capital, much of which is provided by private banks. But roughly half a year after Congress authorized $700 billion to rescue America's financial system - more than half of which has been spent to date - the country's biggest lending institutions remain at risk of failure.
一个基本而显然的道理是：资本主义在缺乏资本的情况下无法运转，而大部分资本是私有银行提供的。虽然美国国会在大约半年前就批准动用7000亿美元救助金融系统，而且到目前为止这笔钱已经花了一半多，但美国最大的几家贷款机构依然面临倒闭的危险。
Some, like Senator Richard Shelby of Alabama, the ranking Republican on the Banking Committee, have a straightforward solution.
来自阿拉巴马州的参议院银行委员会资深共和党议员谢尔比和其他一些人主张采用一个直截了当的解决办法。
"I think we need to close them, get them out of business," he said. "If they are dead, they ought to be buried."
他说：“我认为，我们需要关闭这些银行，让它们关门。如果它们已经死了，那就得被埋葬。”
Shelby was speaking on ABC's This Week program. His words were echoed by fellow-Republican Senator John McCain of Arizona, who worried that more government bailout money will only prolong an unsustainable situation.
谢尔比是在美国广播公司的《本周》节目中说这番话的。亚利桑那州共和党参议员麦凯恩同意他的说法。麦凯恩担心，更多的政府救助计划只会延长一个无法维持的局面。他在福克斯周日新闻节目上说：
"Some of these banks have to fail," said McCain. "You cannot have 'zombie' banks."
麦凯恩说：“在这些银行中，有一些不得不关门。你不能有那种“半死不活”的银行。”
McCain was speaking on Fox News Sunday.
But the laissez-faire, or free market, solution to the banking crisis will inflict great pain on the nation as a whole, according to Democratic Senator Evan Bayh, who also appeared on This Week.
然而，在《本周》节目上接受采访的民主党参议员贝赫说，靠自由市场来解决金融危机会给美国整体经济带来巨大的负面影响。
"If they [big banks] were to go down, the problem is: it is not just them. It is called collateral damage. Hundreds of thousands of blue collar men and women, other smaller financial institutions that were not involved in these bad decisions," said Bayh. "They would all pay the price, too."
他说：“如果我们任由大银行倒闭，那么问题是：倒下的并不仅仅是这些银行，而是会有附带损害。数十万蓝领工人和其它较小的、同不良投资决定无关的金融机构也会付出代价。”
Some are urging patience, noting that a massive economic-stimulus package as well as President Barack Obama's home mortgage aid program have only just gone into effect. Democratic Senator Charles Schumer of New York says improving the overall economy and preventing home foreclosures will provide a boost to the banking sector.
还有一些人敦促大家保持耐心，他们指出，大规模经济刺激计划和奥巴马总统的房屋按揭援助项目刚刚开始实施。纽约州民主党参议员舒默说，改善整体经济状况和防止丧失住房赎回权将为金融业的复苏提供动力。
"If you reduce foreclosures, you find a bottom to the housing market," said Schumer. "And then the banks, which are worried about all this mortgage paper they have, will start lending again."
舒默在全国广播公司《面对媒体》节目上说：“如果丧失房屋赎回权的情况减少，那么房屋市场就不可能再往下跌了。那么，担心按揭合同得不到履行的银行就会再次向外贷款。”
Schumer was speaking on NBC's Meet The Press program.
But patience and calm nerves may be hard to find at a time when U.S. financial markets continue to drop at alarming rates. Last week, Wall Street's Dow Jones Industrial Average fell to a 12-year low, and analysts say uncertainty over the country's financial picture is contributing to investors' worries.
然而，在美国金融市场继续以惊人的速度下跌时，人们可能很难保持耐心和平静。上周，道琼斯工业平均指数下跌到12年来的最低水平，分析人士说，美国金融形势的前途不明是造成投资者担心的一个原因。
The Treasury Department is conducting so-called "stress tests" of major banks to gauge their viability in today's tough economic times. But in recent testimony on Capitol Hill, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner had few answers when asked what would be done should any banks be judged to have failed the stress test and be deemed fundamentally unsound.
美国财政部正在对大银行进行所谓的“压力考核”，衡量他们在今天严峻的经济形势下有多强的生存能力。不过，美国国会最近向财政部长盖特纳提出问题：他准备如何对待那些“压力考核”不及格、基本状况不良的银行。盖特纳几乎答不上来。
The Obama administration has been criticized for the slow pace of nominations for key Treasury posts under Mr. Geithner, who has been operating without the benefit of a full staff. Sunday, the administration announced appointments for three key positions in the department.
奥巴马政府因对盖特纳手下重要财政部官员提名缓慢而受到批评。盖特纳一直在缺乏足够人手的状况下工作。星期天，美国政府宣布了财政部三位重要官员的任命。 |