The U.S. economy has contracted more sharply than previously believed, according to new government figures. Meanwhile, in yet another sign of continuing stress in the credit market, the U.S. central bank is allocating hundreds of billion of additional dollars to purchase bad mortgage debt and spur consumer lending.
美国政府公布的最新统计数字显示，美国经济今年第三季度的收缩幅度远远大於先前的估计。与此同时，为了缓和信贷市场持续不断的压力，美国的中央银行正在拿出数千亿美元收购房贷坏帐和刺激消费者借贷。
Revised figures from the Commerce Department show the American economy shrank at an annual rate of 0.5 percent in the third quarter of the year, a greater contraction than the original estimate of 0.3 percent. The negative quarter followed a year of mostly-anemic growth, and, while the fourth quarter has yet to be completed, economists believe it, too, will show significant contraction.
根据美国商务部发布的经过修正的数据，美国经济在今年第三季度折合成年率收缩了0.5%，远远大於先前估计的0.3%。在此之前，美国经济增长已经持续疲软了一年。今年第四季度虽然尚未结束，但是经济学家相信，美国经济在今年最后三个月也将是大幅度收缩。
"GDP [gross domestic product] fell by 0.5 percent because consumers spent less, there were fewer new homes built, and expenditures for business purposes fell," said. University of Maryland economist Peter Morici. "Unfortunately, this is a precursor of worse things to come."
马里兰大学的经济学教授彼得·莫里奇(Peter Morici)说：“国内生产总值(GDP)下降了0.5%是因为消费者花销减少、新房子修建太少、用于商业目的的开销下滑。不幸的是，这些还只是即将来临的更糟糕的情况的前奏。”
Most analysts trace America's current economic woes to tight credit conditions sparked by a wave of home foreclosures and mortgage defaults. In recent weeks, the U.S. government has taken a series of aggressive, unprecedented steps to prop up or take control of major lending institutions and financial firms, committing well over $2 trillion to the effort.
绝大多数分析人士都把美国目前的经济困难归咎于房贷违约和丧失抵押住房赎回权案子激增所导致的信贷条件紧缩。最近几周来，美国政府采取了一系列前所未有的大刀阔斧行动来支持或接管主要的信贷机构和金融公司，承诺拿出的资金总额已经超过两万亿美元。
Now, the Federal Reserve says it will devote an additional $600 billion to combat the mortgage meltdown, and another $200 billion to unfreeze consumer credit. A small portion of the new funds will come from a $700 billion rescue package Congress approved last month, which is being administered by the Treasury Department.
现在，美国联邦储备委员会又说，将再拿出6000亿美元来抵御房贷市场的下滑，另外还要拿出2000亿美元来帮助消费者信贷市场解冻。在这笔新的救市基金中，有一小部分来自国会上个月批准的7000亿美元金融救援计划。美国财政部负责管理这些金融救援资金。
"By providing liquidity to issuers of consumer asset-backed paper [consumer loans], the Federal Reserve facility will enable a broad range of institutions to step up their lending, enabling borrowers to have access to lower-cost consumer finance and small business loans," said Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson. "Today's announcement by the Fed underscores our support for the housing market. Nothing is more important to getting through this housing correction than the availability of affordable mortgage finance."
财政部长保尔森说：“通过向消费者贷款发放部门提供流动性，美联储就可以帮助各种各样的机构增加借贷，并且使借款人能够获得成本较低的消费者贷款和小企业贷款。为了渡过这次房地产市场的修正期，没有什么事情比提供人们能够负担得起的房贷融资更加重要了。”
Few, if any economists would contest the importance of the availability of credit to the health of the American economy, nor the desirability of the federal government doing all it can to reverse a credit crunch that has constrained businesses and consumers alike.
说到信贷市场对于美国经济健康的重要性，几乎没有任何经济学家持反对意见。他们也都赞同联邦政府竭尽全力扭转信贷紧缩的局面，因为信贷紧缩使工商企业和消费者同时受到制约。
But the sheer scale of initiatives undertaken to date, and the apparent need for successive waves of government intervention are an unsettling indication of the magnitude and the tenacity of the problem being confronted, according to economics professor Lawrence White of the University of Missouri.
然而联邦政府迄今为止所采取的这些规模空前的计划，以及一波接一波迫切需要政府干预的浪潮，令人不安地显示出目前问题是多么的巨大和艰难。密苏里大学的经济学教授劳伦斯·怀特说：
"It is a recognition [that] we still have a big problem. It is a strong statement by the Fed that it is going to take massive, broad, forceful efforts to try to break the back of [resolve] the crisis," he said.
“大家都认识到我们仍然面临一个很大的问题。美联储的行动已经强有力地说明，我们需要采取大规模的、广泛的、强有力的努力来破解这场危机。”
In the face of relentlessly grim economic news, Treasury Secretary Paulson says the federal government is doing all it can to mitigate the situation.
面对这些滚滚而来的冷酷无情的经济新闻，美国财政部长保尔森表示，联邦政府将尽一切努力来缓和目前的形势。
"It will take time to work through the difficulties in our market and our economy, and new challenges will continue to arise. I and my regulatory colleagues are committed to using all the tools at our disposal to preserve the strength of our financial institutions and stabilize our financial markets to minimize the spill-over [damage] into the rest of the economy," he said.
“我们需要时间来克服我们的市场和我们的经济中存在的困难，而且新的挑战还会继续出现。我和其他负责监管的同仁们决心利用一切可以利用的手段来确保我们金融机构的实力，稳定我们的金融市场，尽量减少其他经济领域受到的损失。”
In other economic news, a private research firm says U.S. consumer confidence has rebounded somewhat this month, aided by falling energy prices, but that the index remains at a low level. Meanwhile, U.S. export growth slowed, while American homebuilders continue to cut spending.
总部设在纽约的经济研究机构会议委员会报告说，美国的消费者信心在11月份出人意料地有所提高，主要由于能源价格下降，不过消费者信心指数仍然处于很低的水平。另外，美国的出口增长有所减缓，美国的住宅建筑商继续削减开支。 |