VOA慢速英语-Economics Report - Trying to Contain the Credit Cris

This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.

The Federal Reserve and other major central banks pumped extra money into financial markets on Thursday. The aim was to help calm investors² and persuade nervous banks to lend to each other.

President George Bush canceled travel plans and stayed in Washington on Thursday to meet with economic advisers³ about the financial crisis. He made a brief public statement on the extraordinary measures taken by the federal government in recent weeks. He said his administration will continue to act to strengthen financial markets and improve investor¹ confidence.
　
A.I.G. is one of the world's largest insurance companies

Last week, the government took control of the nation's two biggest housing finance companies. And this week the Fed agreed to lend up to eighty-five billion dollars to the nation's largest insurance company, A.I.G., the American International Group. In return, the government will own eighty percent of A.I.G. and receive interest on the two-year loan.

President Bush says the failure of A.I.G. could have caused severe problems in financial markets and threatened other parts of the economy.

A.I.G. got into deep trouble on insurance policies that it provided for securities tied to risky⁴ home loans. It has dealings with every major financial company in the United States. And it operates in more than one hundred thirty countries.

In a speech in July, Treasury⁵ Secretary Henry Paulson said: "We need to create a resolution process that ensures the financial system can withstand the failure of a large, complex financial firm."

He said that today, expectations that the government will intervene to prevent a failure are based on two concerns. These concerns are that a company may be too interconnected to fail or too big to fail. Policy makers⁶, he said, must take steps because the tools now available are limited.

This week, while the government agreed to help A.I.G., it refused a bailout for a big investment bank, Lehman Brothers. That forced Lehman to seek Bankruptcy⁷ Court protection from its creditors⁸.

The United States had five big, independent investment banks before the credit crisis began more than a year ago. Now Lehman has failed. Merrill Lynch agreed Sunday to sell itself to Bank of America. And the Fed agreed in March to provide twenty-nine billion dollars in loans for the sale of Bear Stearns. The two left are Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs.

And that's the VOA Special English Economics Report, written by Mario Ritter. To learn more about the financial crisis, go to voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Steve Ember.

1 investor   

n.投资者，投资人

参考例句：

• My nephew is a cautious investor.我侄子是个小心谨慎的投资者。
• The investor believes that his investment will pay off handsomely soon.这个投资者相信他的投资不久会有相当大的收益。

2 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

3 advisers   

顾问，劝告者( adviser的名词复数 )； （指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授

参考例句：

• a member of the President's favoured circle of advisers 总统宠爱的顾问班子中的一员
• She withdrew to confer with her advisers before announcing a decision. 她先去请教顾问然后再宣布决定。

4 risky   

adj.有风险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• It may be risky but we will chance it anyhow.这可能有危险，但我们无论如何要冒一冒险。
• He is well aware how risky this investment is.他心里对这项投资的风险十分清楚。

5 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。

6 makers   

n.制造者，制造商（maker的复数形式）

参考例句：

• The makers of the product assured us that there had been no sacrifice of quality. 这一产品的制造商向我们保证说他们没有牺牲质量。
• The makers are about to launch out a new product. 制造商们马上要生产一种新产品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 bankruptcy   

n.破产；无偿付能力

参考例句：

• You will have to pull in if you want to escape bankruptcy.如果你想避免破产，就必须节省开支。
• His firm is just on thin ice of bankruptcy.他的商号正面临破产的危险。

8 creditors   

n.债权人，债主( creditor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They agreed to repay their creditors over a period of three years. 他们同意3年内向债主还清欠款。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Creditors could obtain a writ for the arrest of their debtors. 债权人可以获得逮捕债务人的令状。 来自《简明英汉词典》