British Vision Issue 59 物价暴涨恐惧

Welcome back, you're watching Channel 4 News. Now controlling inflation has been at the very heart of the government's claims of economic competence¹. But today for the first time in ten years, the rate of inflation rose above Gordon Brown's target. The Bank of England has the job of meeting that target and the governor has now had to write to the Chancellor² explaining what's gone wrong. In his letter, Mervyn King talks of growing price pressures within the economy and most economists³ believe more interest rate rises are imminent⁴. Our economics correspondent Faisal Islam explains.

For ten years, the Bank of England has built an unrivaled reputation for maintaining economic stability through low inflation. But is that now melting away as inflation surges to nearly 1% over the European average? Does a shock breach⁵ of the Treasury⁶-imposed target for inflation evaporate Britain's superior economic record?

"We have pretty strong economic growth overall. We have a period of very, very low interest rates, and inflations remain. But now, I think some of that is probably now starting to unravel⁷. And if we continue to see decent rates of economic growth in this country and abroad, then that will not be combined any more with low interest rates. We won't be able to have our cake and eat it."

The government's target for inflation is an annual rates of 2%, but with a one percent margin⁸ of error either side. Over the last year, inflation has been rising towards the target's upper limit, but in the last two months, it seemed to be dropping back. Now today's figure has breached⁹ the government's targets for the first time ever. And it's all being driven by real factors within the economy. Food and drinks prices are rising at their highest annual rates for 6 years. Furniture and household equipment prices too are racing¹⁰ ahead at a ten-year high. On the Treasury preferred measure, it's the highest rates of inflation for a decade. The Retail¹¹ Price Index, which includes mortgage costs, is at 4.8%, a 16 year high.

"The governor's letter makes it perfectly¹² clear that this is not just a temporary blip. At least half of the inflation, which is recorded, is caused by the big expansion of money in credit and personal debts in the economy. And of course there is a lot of hidden inflation which isn't captured in these figures in the form of a massive boom in the housing market."

The letter from the governor of the Bank of England, says he is determined¹³ to bring inflation back to target. That's likely to mean rates up from 5.25% within weeks. Some in the city see an augment¹⁴ for the first half a percent rise since 1994. Yet the reply by the Chancellor for this first breach of his system is relaxed and non-punitive. The Treasury has no interests in complaining too loudly.

"Gordon Brown is handing over the power to set your interest rates, to the boss of the Bank of England, the root of Britain's perceived economic success over the past ten years. It's kept inflation low until today. Well, on the Treasury's own measure, we've had our first failure. A small one? Yes. A temporary one, say both institutions. But it couldn't have come at a worse time for Gordon Brown."

"Inflation is on the rise. Unemployment has been rising in this country. We are not as competitive as we should be against countries like China and India. So that reputation for economic competence which Gordon Brown boasted of for so many years is now unraveling before our eyes and people out there in the real economy know it."

Since he arrived at the Treasury, Mr. Brown has joked that there are two types of Chancellor: those who fail and those who get out in time. The man who's kept him waiting at number 11 lets to his defense¹⁵ today.

"Namely a better Chancellor since the Second World War of this country. He's produced the longest period of economic growth, interest rates half of what they were, two and a half million extra jobs, unemployment cut dramatically and massive investment in public services."

Today's news augurs¹⁶ choppier economic waters ahead. It's a problem we forgot was there. The Bank of England will have to deal with it, which could make life tough for a Prime Minister Brown.

I'm not a candidate…

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blip:n. A temporary or insignificant¹⁷ phenomenon, especially a brief departure from the normal.
eg:The decline in the share of GNP going to health . . . appears to be a one-time blip in the historic trend rather than the start of a new trend(Atlantic)

1 competence   

n.能力，胜任，称职

参考例句：

• This mess is a poor reflection on his competence.这种混乱情况说明他难当此任。
• These are matters within the competence of the court.这些是法院权限以内的事。

2 chancellor   

n.(英)大臣；法官；(德、奥)总理；大学校长

参考例句：

• They submitted their reports to the Chancellor yesterday.他们昨天向财政大臣递交了报告。
• He was regarded as the most successful Chancellor of modern times.他被认为是现代最成功的财政大臣。

3 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 imminent   

adj.即将发生的，临近的，逼近的

参考例句：

• The black clounds show that a storm is imminent.乌云预示暴风雨即将来临。
• The country is in imminent danger.国难当头。

5 breach   

n.违反，不履行；破裂；vt.冲破，攻破

参考例句：

• We won't have any breach of discipline.我们不允许任何破坏纪律的现象。
• He was sued for breach of contract.他因不履行合同而被起诉。

6 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。

7 unravel   

v.弄清楚（秘密）；拆开，解开，松开

参考例句：

• He was good with his hands and could unravel a knot or untangle yarn that others wouldn't even attempt.他的手很灵巧，其他人甚至都不敢尝试的一些难解的绳结或缠在一起的纱线，他都能解开。
• This is the attitude that led him to unravel a mystery that long puzzled Chinese historians.正是这种态度使他解决了长期以来使中国历史学家们大惑不解的谜。

8 margin   

n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘

参考例句：

• We allowed a margin of 20 minutes in catching the train.我们有20分钟的余地赶火车。
• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。

9 breached   

攻破( breach的现在分词 )； 破坏，违反

参考例句：

• These commitments have already been breached. 这些承诺已遭背弃。
• Our tanks have breached the enemy defences. 我方坦克车突破了敌人的防线。

10 racing   

n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的

参考例句：

• I was watching the racing on television last night.昨晚我在电视上看赛马。
• The two racing drivers fenced for a chance to gain the lead.两个赛车手伺机竞相领先。

11 retail   

v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格

参考例句：

• In this shop they retail tobacco and sweets.这家铺子零售香烟和糖果。
• These shoes retail at 10 yuan a pair.这些鞋子零卖10元一双。

12 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

13 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

14 augment   

vt.(使)增大，增加，增长，扩张

参考例句：

• They hit upon another idea to augment their income.他们又想出一个增加收入的办法。
• The government's first concern was to augment the army and auxiliary forces.政府首先关心的是增强军队和辅助的力量。

15 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

16 augurs   

n.（古罗马的）占兆官( augur的名词复数 )；占卜师，预言者v.预示，预兆，预言( augur的第三人称单数 )；成为预兆；占卜

参考例句：

• This augurs well for the harvest. 这是丰收的好兆头。 来自辞典例句
• Higher pay augurs a better future. 工资高了，前程会更美好。 来自辞典例句

17 insignificant   

adj.无关紧要的，可忽略的，无意义的

参考例句：

• In winter the effect was found to be insignificant.在冬季，这种作用是不明显的。
• This problem was insignificant compared to others she faced.这一问题与她面临的其他问题比较起来算不得什么。