美国国家公共电台 NPR--The U.S. dollar is strong right now. But not everyone is happy about that

The U.S. dollar is strong right now. But not everyone is happy about that

Transcript¹

Compared to many world currencies, the dollar is the strongest it's been in decades. That's affecting the global economy and how business gets done.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Federal Reserve today is expected to hike interest rates again, widely expected to be a three-quarters of a percentage point increase. To get ahold of inflation, the Fed has been raising rates at the fastest pace in a generation, which has also strengthened the value of the U.S. dollar. A strong dollar sounds good, but as NPR's David Gura reports, it's a problem for companies that do business globally and also for many countries around the world.

DAVID GURA, BYLINE²: At a time when there are plenty of economic issues, including labor³ shortages, high inflation and fallout from the war in Ukraine, the value of the U.S. dollar has gone up, relative to other currencies. Investors⁴ see it as safe and, also as interest rates go up, as a pathway to higher returns. But there are downsides to dollar strength, and big multinationals⁵ know this firsthand. Salesforce is a $150 billion business that sells software to companies to manage customer data. Here's CEO Marc Benioff on a recent call with Wall Street analysts⁶.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

MARC BENIOFF: We had a great quarter, but yet again, the dollar had an even stronger quarter, and we continue to see the impact on foreign exchange and currency fluctuation⁷ on our financials.

GURA: Salesforce is based in San Francisco, but it sells products all over the world, in different currencies. Michael Klein is a professor of international economic affairs at Tufts University, and he says when a company like Salesforce converts what it makes into dollars, it gets squeezed.

MICHAEL KLEIN: Repatriated⁸ profits from abroad in euros or pounds or yen⁹ are going to be worth less in dollars because the dollar is stronger.

GURA: Salesforce expects, in this fiscal¹⁰ year, a stronger dollar is going to cost it more than $800 million. Klein says this is a very tough environment for most U.S. exporters.

KLEIN: People who are trying to sell goods abroad will find that a strong dollar makes it more difficult because it makes American goods more expensive in other countries.

GURA: So the U.S. is effectively spreading inflation to other countries that are already dealing¹¹ with higher prices. Now, of course, this cuts both ways. This is a good time for U.S. importers who are buying goods from overseas and for U.S. travelers heading abroad. For them, the world is on sale. Big companies hedge against currencies strengthening and weakening, but some executives say this has gotten more difficult because of economic uncertainty¹² and because there's been so much volatility¹³. Joe Wolk is the CFO of Johnson & Johnson.

JOE WOLK: It's not just that the euro and U.S. dollar have reached parity¹⁴.

GURA: Meaning $1 equals 1 euro, which happened in July for the first time in 20 years. And the two currencies are still pretty close to even.

WOLK: It's also the rapid pace at which the fluctuations¹⁵ are occurring.

GURA: Which makes hedging more difficult. Right now the strong dollar is a real concern for emerging economies in particular, countries that sell wheat and oil and other commodities. Many of them are priced in dollars, so they've gotten more expensive. And Michael Klein at Tufts notes that on top of that...

KLEIN: Much of emerging market debt is also denominated in dollars. So when the dollar is stronger, it becomes harder to pay back debt.

GURA: Argentina is confronting this, along with Brazil and Colombia and many other countries. The dollar is not expected to weaken any time soon. First and foremost, the Federal Reserve is expected to keep raising interest rates aggressively. And on top of that, there is huge demand for U.S. energy from Europe, which is weaning itself off Russian oil and gas. Jordan Rochester is a foreign exchange strategist at Nomura Securities.

JORDAN ROCHESTER: That story is not going away anytime soon. It's going to accelerate as we go into the winter.

GURA: That may be good news for U.S. energy exporters, but it all but guarantees there will be more hurt in a year that's already been painful.

David Gura, NPR News, New York.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

4 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

5 multinationals   

跨国公司( multinational的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• These local companies are only small fry compared with the huge multinationals. 同那些跨国公司比，这些当地的公司不过是小鱼小虾。
• Some people believe that the multinationals have too much power. 有人认为跨国公司的权力太大了。

6 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

7 fluctuation   

n.(物价的)波动，涨落；周期性变动；脉动

参考例句：

• The erratic fluctuation of market prices are in consequence of unstable economy.经济波动致使市场物价忽起忽落。
• Early and adequate drainage is essential if fluctuation occurs.有波动感时，应及早地充分引流。

8 repatriated   

v.把（某人）遣送回国，遣返( repatriate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The refugees were forcibly repatriated. 难民被强制遣送回国。
• Ancient artworks were repatriated from the US to Greece. 古代艺术品从美国遣送回希腊。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 yen   

n. 日元；热望

参考例句：

• He wanted to convert his dollars into Japanese yen.他想将美元换成日币。
• He has a yen to be alone in a boat.他渴望独自呆在一条船上。

10 fiscal   

adj.财政的，会计的，国库的，国库岁入的

参考例句：

• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。
• The government has two basic strategies of fiscal policy available.政府有两个可行的财政政策基本战略。

11 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

12 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。

13 volatility   

n.挥发性，挥发度，轻快，（性格）反复无常

参考例句：

• That was one reason why volatility was so low last year.这也是去年波动性如此低的原因之一。
• Yet because volatility remained low for so long,disaster myopia prevailed.然而，由于相当长的时间里波动性小，灾难短视就获胜了。

14 parity   

n.平价，等价，比价，对等

参考例句：

• The two currencies have now reached parity.这两种货币现已达到同等价值。
• Women have yet to achieve wage or occupational parity in many fields.女性在很多领域还没能争取到薪金、职位方面的平等。

15 fluctuations   

波动，涨落，起伏( fluctuation的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He showed the price fluctuations in a statistical table. 他用统计表显示价格的波动。
• There were so many unpredictable fluctuations on the Stock Exchange. 股票市场瞬息万变。