2014年经济学人 本周经济要闻

Business this week

The eurozone economy recorded zero growth in the second quarter. It had been expected to grow, if barely, but was dragged down by worse than expected GDP data from Germany and France. Germany's economy contracted by 0.2% as its export industry struggled. France chalked up a second straight quarter of zero growth. The stagnant¹ economy means that France's Socialist² government is likely to miss its budget deficit³ target, again.

China reported a record monthly trade surplus, of 47.3 billion for July. Exports to America grew by 12.3%, and those to Europe by 17%, compared with July 2013.

An increase in Japan's sales tax on April 1st was blamed for the biggest contraction⁴ in its economy since the earthquake and tsunami⁵ in 2011. GDP fell by 6.8% at an annual rate in the second quarter, offsetting⁶ the bump in demand in the first quarter as consumers brought forward purchases to beat the tax rise. The tax is scheduled to increase again, from 8% to 10%, in October next year.

Assessing the impact

Russia's central bank said it would have to tear up its previous economic forecasts because of uncertainty⁷ about the impact of sanctions imposed over the conflict in Ukraine. It will present an updated outlook next month.

Oil prices continued to fall despite heightened tensions in the Middle East and Russia. Brent dipped to a 13-month low. Oil markets, which the International Energy Agency described as “eerily calm in the face of mounting geopolitical risks”, have been quiet because the increase in American and OPEC production has led to a glut⁸ in supply. Worldwide demand for oil has also eased slightly.

Shale⁹ of the century

Kinder Morgan, the biggest fuel-pipeline operator in America, laid out a plan to consolidate¹⁰ four partnerships¹¹ it controls in a 44 billion buy-out. Formed in 1997 through assets acquired from Enron, Kinder Morgan has been buoyed¹² by America's shale boom. The consolidation¹³ of its various units into one publicly traded company will make it the biggest energy firm in America after Exxon Mobil and Chevron¹⁴.

Malaysia's sovereignwealth fund moved to nationalise Malaysia Airlines by buying out the stricken carrier's minority shareholders¹⁵. Squeezed by lowcost competitors it had been losing money for years, long before the recent disasters of one plane disappearing en route to Beijing and another being shot down over Ukraine. But the plan to take it under full state control has been criticised by some, including Mahathir Mohamad, a former prime minister.

A court in Shanghai sentenced a British corporate¹⁶ investigator¹⁷ working in China and his American business partner to prison for breaking privacy laws by collecting information about individuals. Peter Humphrey and Yu Yingzeng were two of the best known corporatefraud experts in China and were at one time employed by GlaxoSmithKline. They were arrested soon after Chinese authorities accused the drug company of bribing¹⁸ doctors and hospitals.

Fruit shake

The planned merger¹⁹ of Chiquita and Fyffes to create the world's biggest banana distributor was challenged by a rival joint²⁰ bid for Fyffes from Cutrale, Brazil's biggest supplier of oranges, and the Safra Group, controlled by Joseph Safra, Brazil's second-richest man. The merger was one of the first tax-inversion deals to be announced this year, with Chiquita hoping to relocate from America to Ireland, where Fyffes has its headquarters.

Tata Motors of India launched its first new model in four years. It thinks the Zest²¹, priced at 7,500, will reclaim²² some of the market for compact cars in India that it has lost to Japanese and South Korean rivals.

A federal judge in California rejected a proposed settlement between four big Silicon²³ Valley companies and former employees in a case that alleges²⁴ that the four colluded in hiring staff, to keep wages down. The judge said that the four—Apple, Google, Intel and Adobe—had taken part in an “overarching conspiracy” to make sure they did not offer positions to each other's staff, and suggested that the value of the settlement should be raised to at least 380m.

A privateequity bidding war broke out for Treasury²⁵ Wine Estates in Australia, one of the world's biggest wine companies. Treasury traces its roots back to the establishment of the Lindeman's label in New South Wales in 1843. It also owns the Beringer vineyard in the Napa Valley in California, as well as other familiar supermarket brands, such as Wolf Blass and Penfolds.

1 stagnant   

adj.不流动的，停滞的，不景气的

参考例句：

• Due to low investment,industrial output has remained stagnant.由于投资少，工业生产一直停滞不前。
• Their national economy is stagnant.他们的国家经济停滞不前。

2 socialist   

n.社会主义者；adj.社会主义的

参考例句：

• China is a socialist country,and a developing country as well.中国是一个社会主义国家，也是一个发展中国家。
• His father was an ardent socialist.他父亲是一个热情的社会主义者。

3 deficit   

n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差

参考例句：

• The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
• We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。

4 contraction   

n.缩略词，缩写式，害病

参考例句：

• The contraction of this muscle raises the lower arm.肌肉的收缩使前臂抬起。
• The forces of expansion are balanced by forces of contraction.扩张力和收缩力相互平衡。

5 tsunami   

n.海啸

参考例句：

• Powerful quake sparks tsunami warning in Japan.大地震触发了日本的海啸预警。
• Coastlines all around the Indian Ocean inundated by a huge tsunami.大海啸把印度洋沿岸地区都淹没了。

6 offsetting   

n.偏置法v.抵消( offset的现在分词 )；补偿；（为了比较的目的而）把…并列（或并置）；为（管道等）装支管

参考例句：

• Dealers, having concluded a forward contract, should always hedge with an offsetting contract. 外汇经营商在签订了一项远期合同之后总是应进行套头交易签订一项相抵合同。 来自辞典例句
• Where does Germany think offsetting shifts into greater external deficits might occur? 在德国看来，这么大的外部赤字应该转移到哪里？ 来自互联网

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 glut   

n.存货过多，供过于求；v.狼吞虎咽

参考例句：

• The glut of coffee led to a sharp drop in prices.咖啡供过于求道致价格急剧下跌。
• There's a glut of agricultural products in Western Europe.西欧的农产品供过于求。

9 shale   

n.页岩，泥板岩

参考例句：

• We can extract oil from shale.我们可以从页岩中提取石油。
• Most of the rock in this mountain is shale.这座山上大部分的岩石都是页岩。

10 consolidate   

v.使加固，使加强；(把...)联为一体，合并

参考例句：

• The two banks will consolidate in July next year. 这两家银行明年7月将合并。
• The government hoped to consolidate ten states to form three new ones.政府希望把十个州合并成三个新的州。

11 partnerships   

n.伙伴关系( partnership的名词复数 )；合伙人身份；合作关系

参考例句：

• Partnerships suffer another major disadvantage: decision-making is shared. 合伙企业的另一主要缺点是决定要由大家来作。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• It involved selling off limited partnerships. 它涉及到售出有限的合伙权。 来自辞典例句

12 buoyed   

v.使浮起( buoy的过去式和过去分词 )；支持；为…设浮标；振奋…的精神

参考例句：

• Buoyed by their win yesterday the team feel confident of further success. 在昨天胜利的鼓舞下，该队有信心再次获胜。
• His encouragement buoyed her up during that difficult period. 他的鼓励使她在那段困难时期恢复了乐观的情绪。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 consolidation   

n.合并,巩固

参考例句：

• The denser population necessitates closer consolidation both for internal and external action. 住得日益稠密的居民，对内和对外都不得不更紧密地团结起来。 来自英汉非文学 - 家庭、私有制和国家的起源
• The state ensures the consolidation and growth of the state economy. 国家保障国营经济的巩固和发展。 来自汉英非文学 - 中国宪法

14 chevron   

n.V形臂章；V形图案

参考例句：

• He wore shoulderstrap rank slides with sergeant's chevrons.他佩戴标示级别的肩章，上面有中士的V形标志。
• The chevron or arrow road sign indicates a sharp bend to the left or right.V形或箭头路标表示有向左或向右的急转弯。

15 shareholders   

n.股东( shareholder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The meeting was attended by 90% of shareholders. 90%的股东出席了会议。
• the company's fiduciary duty to its shareholders 公司对股东负有的受托责任

16 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

17 investigator   

n.研究者，调查者，审查者

参考例句：

• He was a special investigator for the FBI.他是联邦调查局的特别调查员。
• The investigator was able to deduce the crime and find the criminal.调查者能够推出犯罪过程并锁定罪犯。

18 bribing   

贿赂

参考例句：

• He tried to escape by bribing the guard. 他企图贿赂警卫而逃走。
• Always a new way of bribing unknown and maybe nonexistent forces. 总是用诸如此类的新方法来讨好那不知名的、甚或根本不存在的魔力。 来自英汉非文学 - 科幻

19 merger   

n.企业合并，并吞

参考例句：

• Acceptance of the offer is the first step to a merger.对这项提议的赞同是合并的第一步。
• Shareholders will be voting on the merger of the companies.股东们将投票表决公司合并问题。

20 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

21 zest   

n.乐趣；滋味，风味；兴趣

参考例句：

• He dived into his new job with great zest.他充满热情地投入了新的工作。
• He wrote his novel about his trip to Asia with zest.他兴趣浓厚的写了一本关于他亚洲之行的小说。

22 reclaim   

v.要求归还，收回；开垦

参考例句：

• I have tried to reclaim my money without success.我没能把钱取回来。
• You must present this ticket when you reclaim your luggage.当你要取回行李时，必须出示这张票子。

23 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。

24 alleges   

断言，宣称，辩解( allege的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The newspaper article alleges that the mayor is corrupt. 报纸上断言该市长腐败。
• Steven was tardy this morning and alleges that his bus was late. 史提芬今天早上迟到的说词是公车误点了。

25 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。