2019年经济学人 一周要闻 IMF下调增长预期 脸书将正式推出Libra 美联储宣布启动“QE4”

 

Investors¹ responded positively² to Netflix’s quarterly earnings³. The video-streaming company undershot its forecast for new subscribers in America during the third quarter, though that was still a rebound⁴ from the previous three months, when it lost domestic users. It added 6.3m international customers, above expectations. Netflix also lowered its outlook, as it braces⁵ for the launch of rival streaming services from Apple and Disney next month.

投资者对Netflix的季度收益反应积极。这家视频流媒体公司第三季度的美国新用户数量低于预期，但至少从上一季度国内用户的流失中反弹。Netflix在海外市场增加了630万客户，超出了市场预期。Netflix也下调了预期，为下个月苹果和迪士尼推出竞争对手流媒体服务做准备。

Facebook held the first meeting of the association that will oversee⁶ its proposed Libra digital currency, despite a barrage⁷ of objections raised by global regulators. Facebook insists Libra will be up and running next year, even though eBay, Mastercard, PayPal and Visa have pulled out. Still, 21 companies have signed up to the payments network, including Uber and Vodafone.

尽管全球监管机构提出了一系列反对意见，但Facebook还是举行了Libra协会的首次会议，监督其拟议中的数字货币Libra。尽管易趣、万事达、贝宝和维萨已经退出，但Facebook坚称Libra明年将会上线运营。尽管如此，仍有21家公司与Libra协会签约，其中包括优步(Uber)和沃达丰(Vodafone)。

The IMF again downgraded its growth forecasts amid “uncertainty about the future of the global trading system and international co-operation”. The world economy is projected to grow by just 3% this year, the slowest pace in a decade. The “systemic economies” of America, China, the Euro zone and Japan can expect only a moderate expansion over the next few years. The IMF pointed⁸ out that subdued⁹ growth has coincided with easy monetary¹⁰ policy, but warned that central banks have little ammunition¹¹ left when economies are in a “tougher spot”.

由于“全球贸易体系和国际合作的未来存在不确定性”，国际货币基金组织（IMF）再次下调了增长预测。今年世界经济预计仅增长3%，为十年来的最低增速。美国、中国、欧元区和日本的“系统性经济体”预计未来几年只会适度增长。IMF指出，增长放缓与宽松的货币政策同时出现，但警告称，当经济体处于“更艰难的境地”时，各国央行手中的工具已所剩无几。

The Federal Reserve began buying short-term government bonds at a monthly rate of $60bn in order to refill its portfolio¹² until at least the second quarter of next year. It is doing this to ease a cash crunch¹³ and sharp rise in banks’ overnight lending costs (the repo rate). The size of the intervention¹⁴ took many by surprise. The central bank described it as a technical move, not a return to quantitative¹⁵ easing, which involved buying longer-dated treasuries¹⁶.

美联储(fed)开始以每月600亿美元来购买短期政府债券，以便至少在明年第二季度之前补充其投资组合。此举是为了缓解现金短缺和银行隔夜贷款成本(回购利率)的急剧上升。干预的规模让许多人感到意外。美联储称其为技术性举措，而非回归量化宽松，即购买长期国债。

The United Automobile¹⁷ Workers union reached a tentative deal over a new contract with General Motors. The workers have been on strike for over a month, which is said to have cost the carmaker up to $1.5bn.

美国汽车工人联合会与通用汽车公司就一项新合同达成初步协议。工人们已举行了一个多月的罢工，据说这导致这家汽车制造商损失高达15亿美元。

James Dyson scrapped¹⁸ his firm’s project to build electric cars, acknowledging that it was not commercially viable¹⁹. The British inventor, whose cordless vacuum cleaners and other gadgets²⁰ have eased the burden of household chores, reportedly pulled the plug on the Dyson vehicle in the face of intense competition from established carmakers, who are ramping²¹ up production of their own battery-powered models.

詹姆斯·戴森(James Dyson)放弃了制造电动汽车的计划，承认该计划在商业上不可行。这位英国发明家发明的无线吸尘器和其他小型家用电器减轻了家庭杂事的负担。据报道，面对来自老牌汽车制造商的激烈竞争，他拔掉了戴森汽车的“插头”，而前者正在加紧自家电池驱动车的生产。

1 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

2 positively   

adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实

参考例句：

• She was positively glowing with happiness.她满脸幸福。
• The weather was positively poisonous.这天气着实讨厌。

3 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。

4 rebound   

v.弹回；n.弹回，跳回

参考例句：

• The vibrations accompanying the rebound are the earth quake.伴随这种回弹的振动就是地震。
• Our evil example will rebound upon ourselves.我们的坏榜样会回到我们自己头上的。

5 braces   

n.吊带，背带；托架( brace的名词复数 )；箍子；括弧；（儿童）牙箍v.支住( brace的第三人称单数 )；撑牢；使自己站稳；振作起来

参考例句：

• The table is shaky because the braces are loose. 这张桌子摇摇晃晃，因为支架全松了。
• You don't need braces if you're wearing a belt! 要系腰带，就用不着吊带了。

6 oversee   

vt.监督，管理

参考例句：

• Soldiers oversee the food handouts.士兵们看管着救济食品。
• Use a surveyor or architect to oversee and inspect the different stages of the work.请一位房产检视员或建筑师来监督并检查不同阶段的工作。

7 barrage   

n.火力网，弹幕

参考例句：

• The attack jumped off under cover of a barrage.进攻在炮火的掩护下开始了。
• The fierce artillery barrage destroyed the most part of the city in a few minutes.猛烈的炮火几分钟内便毁灭了这座城市的大部分地区。

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 subdued   

adj. 屈服的，柔和的，减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He seemed a bit subdued to me. 我觉得他当时有点闷闷不乐。
• I felt strangely subdued when it was all over. 一切都结束的时候，我却有一种奇怪的压抑感。

10 monetary   

adj.货币的，钱的；通货的；金融的；财政的

参考例句：

• The monetary system of some countries used to be based on gold.过去有些国家的货币制度是金本位制的。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

11 ammunition   

n.军火，弹药

参考例句：

• A few of the jeeps had run out of ammunition.几辆吉普车上的弹药已经用光了。
• They have expended all their ammunition.他们把弹药用光。

12 portfolio   

n.公事包；文件夹；大臣及部长职位

参考例句：

• He remembered her because she was carrying a large portfolio.他因为她带着一个大公文包而记住了她。
• He resigned his portfolio.他辞去了大臣职务。

13 crunch   

n.关键时刻；艰难局面；v.发出碎裂声

参考例句：

• If it comes to the crunch they'll support us.关键时刻他们是会支持我们的。
• People who crunch nuts at the movies can be very annoying.看电影时嘎吱作声地嚼干果的人会使人十分讨厌。

14 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。

15 quantitative   

adj.数量的，定量的

参考例句：

• He said it was only a quantitative difference.他说这仅仅是数量上的差别。
• We need to do some quantitative analysis of the drugs.我们对药物要进行定量分析。

16 treasuries   

n.（政府的）财政部( treasury的名词复数 )；国库，金库

参考例句：

• Yields on Treasuries, Bunds and gilts can remain at historically low levels. 美国国债、德国国债和英国国债的收益率仍然可以维持在历史低位。 来自互联网
• Treasuries and gold rose in response but the dollar fell sharply. 接着，国债和黄金的价格上涨，而美元价格则猛跌。 来自互联网

17 automobile   

n.汽车，机动车

参考例句：

• He is repairing the brake lever of an automobile.他正在修理汽车的刹车杆。
• The automobile slowed down to go around the curves in the road.汽车在路上转弯时放慢了速度。

18 scrapped   

废弃(scrap的过去式与过去分词)； 打架

参考例句：

• This machine is so old that it will soon have to be scrapped. 这架机器太旧，快报废了。
• It had been thought that passport controls would be scrapped. 人们曾认为会放开护照管制。

19 viable   

adj.可行的，切实可行的，能活下去的

参考例句：

• The scheme is economically viable.这个计划从经济效益来看是可行的。
• The economy of the country is not viable.这个国家经济是难以维持的。

20 gadgets   

n.小机械，小器具（ gadget的名词复数 ）

参考例句：

• Certainly. The idea is not to have a house full of gadgets. 当然。设想是房屋不再充满小配件。 来自超越目标英语 第4册
• This meant more gadgets and more experiments. 这意味着要设计出更多的装置，做更多的实验。 来自英汉非文学 - 科学史

21 ramping   

土堤斜坡( ramp的现在分词 )； 斜道； 斜路； （装车或上下飞机的）活动梯

参考例句：

• The children love ramping about in the garden. 孩子们喜欢在花园里追逐嬉戏，闹着玩。
• Have you ever seen a lion ramping around? 你看到过狮子暴跳吗？