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　　U.S. President Barack Obama says he is optimistic that the economy's long-term future is strong if officials can solve structural¹ problems with the global economy. The president shared his views on the state of the economy with the leaders of some of America's biggest companies.
美国总统奥巴马表示，如果政府官员能够解决全球经济的结构性问题，他对未来经济的前景感到乐观。奥巴马总统是在白宫与几位美国大型企业的主管谈到当前的经济状况时发表以上看法的。
President Obama expressed guarded confidence to business leaders gathered in Washington, as he promoted his economic plan. "I do not think things are ever as good as we say and they are never as bad as they say. Things, two years ago, were not as good as we thought, because there were a lot of underlying² weaknesses in the economy, and they are not as bad as we think they are now," he said.
奥巴马总统向这些齐聚在华盛顿的商界领袖宣传他的经济计划时表达了谨慎的信心。他说：“我不认为状况像我们所说的那么好，但也不像他们说的那么糟。两年前，经济其实并不如我们想像的那么好，因为当时有许多潜在的弱点，但现在看来它们又不如我们所想的那么糟。”
Mr. Obama said the United States still has the best industry and workforce³ to guide it out of economic trouble. And he said banks will survive and investors⁴' savings⁵ will be protected.
奥巴马说，美国仍然具备最好的企业和劳工能够带领经济走出困境。他表示，银行将生存下来，投资人的储蓄将得到保障。
The president spoke⁶ at a meeting in Washington of (the Business Roundtable,) an association of leading U.S. companies' chief executive officers.
奥巴马总统是在华盛顿的企业圆桌会议上发表这番讲话的，这是一个美国大型企业首席执行官参与的会议。
There were other small signs of optimism Thursday. General Motors said it will not need a $2 billion government loan for this month. Bank of America's chief executive officer said his company will not need additional financial help from the government. The government reported that retail⁷ sales fell far less than expected in February. And the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained almost 240 points.
星期四还有其他令人鼓舞的消息，美国通用汽车表示，这个月他们将不需要政府提供的20亿美元的贷款。美洲银行执行长也表示，银行不需要政府额外的财政援助。官方数据显示，2月份零售业的销售额并没有预期的那么低，此外道琼斯工业指数上涨了将近240点。
However, Mr. Obama warned against the false confidence that he says led to many of the current problems in the economy. "We cannot continue to base our economy on reckless speculation⁸ and spending beyond our means; on bad credit and inflated⁹ home prices and overleveraged banks," he said.
但是，奥巴马总统警告说，错误的信心是导致当前经济出现许多问题的主要原因。他说，“我们不能再以冒进的预测，超支的开销，不良的信贷，哄抬的房价以及过度负债的银行来发展经济。”
The president also defended his efforts to reform other areas, including health care, education and infrastructure¹⁰. "I am not choosing to address these additional challenges just because I feel like it, or because I am a glutton¹¹ for punishment. I am doing so because they are fundamental to our economic growth, and to ensuring that we do not have more crises like this in the future," he said.
奥巴马同时为他改革其他领域，包括医疗保健，教育和基础建设的努力进行辩护。他说：“我选择强调这些额外的挑战，并不是因为我想要，或者因为我喜欢做苦差事，而是因为这些是我们经济增长的基础，也能确保我们未来不会再经历更多的危机。”
Earlier, Mr. Obama and Vice¹² President Joe Biden warned officials from most of the 50 states to spend their share of the federal government's economic recovery package wisely. "If the verdict on this effort is that we have wasted the money, we built things that were unnecessary, or we have done things that are legal but make no sense, then, folks, do not look for any help from the federal government for a long while," he said.
稍早时，奥巴马与副总统拜登警告美国大多数的州政府官员，要谨慎使用联邦政府发放用来刺激经济的费用。副总统拜登说：“如果将来我们发现有浪费金钱的现象，或者兴建不必要的设施，或者做了一些虽然合法但没有道理的事情，那么这些州将有很长一段时间得不到联邦政府的帮助。”
Meanwhile, Treasury¹³ Secretary Timothy Geithner faced tough questions from senators of both parties on Capitol Hill. Geithner defended the administration's new budget, saying its spending increases are short-term and will later have to be sharply reduced.
与此同时，财政部长盖特纳在参议院面临来自两党议员的尖锐质疑。盖特纳为奥巴马政府的预算案进行辩护。他说，预算中开支的增加只是短期的，之后将进行大量的缩减。