VOA慢速英语-Economics Report - Too Big to Fail, the Next Step: U

This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.

This week, the government took control of America's two biggest housing finance companies. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are under conservatorship. This process of supervision¹ will continue until the new Federal Housing Finance Agency decides they are back in financial health.
　
Treasury² Secretary Henry Paulson, left, speaks during a news conference with Federal Housing Finance Agency Director James Lockhart in Washington on Sunday

In July, Congress gave the Treasury new powers to save them, using as much money as needed. At first, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said he had no plans to use those powers.

But on Sunday he announced that new findings about the condition of the companies forced action. He said a failure of either would shake financial markets at home and around the world.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac buy loans from lenders to provide more money for housing finance. They own or guarantee five trillion dollars in debt and securities. They keep some loans but resell others as mortgage-backed securities. These are held by central banks and other investors³ worldwide.

As the housing and credit crisis deepened, Fannie and Freddie have had trouble raising capital to cover bad loans. The government saw a risk to the financial system.

As part of the rescue, the Treasury plans to buy at least five billion dollars of their mortgage-backed securities. And it plans to buy up to one hundred billion dollars of preferred stock in each company.

The Federal Reserve will also lend money as needed.

Critics say taxpayers⁴ could lose a lot. But Treasury officials say the plan should save money in the long term, and might even bring a profit.

Each company will give the Treasury one billion dollars in stock that pays at least ten percent a year. And the Treasury could buy up to eighty percent of their common stock if it chooses. Under the takeover, existing owners of common stock will lose most of their investment.

Mortgage interest rates dropped this week following the takeover. Marc Savitt, president of the National Association of Mortgage Brokers⁵, called it a good sign for the housing market.

Yet Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac still face a conflict between serving a public interest and a private one. Congress created them so more Americans could buy houses. Then Congress made them into shareholder-owned companies.

Some people say, nationalize them. Others say, break them up into new companies without any government support, or sell them to other businesses.

And that's the VOA Special English Economics Report, written by Mario Ritter. I'm Steve Ember.

 

1 supervision   

n.监督，管理

参考例句：

• The work was done under my supervision.这项工作是在我的监督之下完成的。
• The old man's will was executed under the personal supervision of the lawyer.老人的遗嘱是在律师的亲自监督下执行的。

2 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

3 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

4 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。

5 brokers   

n.（股票、外币等）经纪人( broker的名词复数 )；中间人；代理商；（订合同的）中人v.做掮客（或中人等）( broker的第三人称单数 )；作为权力经纪人进行谈判；以中间人等身份安排…

参考例句：

• The firm in question was Alsbery & Co., whiskey brokers. 那家公司叫阿尔斯伯里公司，经销威士忌。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• From time to time a telephone would ring in the brokers' offices. 那两排经纪人房间里不时响着叮令的电话。 来自子夜部分