VOA慢速英语 2007 0921a

This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.

A listener from Indonesia named Efendy asks why the Federal Reserve is so important and how it works. This week offered a good example.

The Federal Reserve System is the United States central bank. Its Federal Open Market Committee, led by Fed chairman Ben Bernanke, makes monetary¹ policy. It makes decisions that affect the cost of money and credit in the economy.

 
A television at the New York Stock Exchange shows the actions of the Federal Reserve 
On Tuesday the committee lowered its target for the federal funds rate to four and three-quarters percent. This rate is what banks pay other banks to borrow money overnight. It was the first cut in four years.

Major banks including Bank of America, Wachovia and Wells Fargo soon followed with cuts in their prime rate. This is what banks charge their best customers.

Financial markets expected a rate cut from the Fed. But the size -- fifty basis points, or half a percentage point -- was double what many people expected. And it persuaded many that the Fed is more concerned about the possibility of a recession than about inflation.

Such concerns rose earlier this month on news that in August the economy lost jobs for the first time in four years. That added to worries about the housing finance crisis.

The committee said economic growth was moderate during the first half of the year. But it said the reduced availability of credit could intensify² the current housing problems and restrain economic growth. The policy makers³ also said that some inflation risks remain and will be watched carefully.

The Fed's action will help some homeowners and other borrowers. What is not clear, though, is how much it will do for many homeowners facing sharply higher payments. Their payments on adjustable-rate mortgages will still go up, though not as high as they would have.

By the end of next year, an estimated two million or more holders⁴ of subprime loans will have their rates reset⁵ higher. These loans were made to people with weak credit histories.

The Fed also cut its discount rate for direct loans to banks by half a point, to five and one-quarter percent, to increase their lending ability. The traditional opinion of borrowing from the so-called discount window was that it represented a sign of weakness.

Stock markets rose sharply after the Fed cut interest rates. But not everyone was so pleased. Some experts warn that cutting rates could raise inflation. They also say it helps those who made unwise borrowing decisions.

And that's the VOA Special English Economics Report, written by Mario Ritter. I'm Jim Tedder⁶.

1 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。

2 intensify   

vt.加强；变强；加剧

参考例句：

• We must intensify our educational work among our own troops.我们必须加强自己部队的教育工作。
• They were ordered to intensify their patrols to protect our air space.他们奉命加强巡逻，保卫我国的领空。

3 makers   

n.制造者，制造商（maker的复数形式）

参考例句：

• The makers of the product assured us that there had been no sacrifice of quality. 这一产品的制造商向我们保证说他们没有牺牲质量。
• The makers are about to launch out a new product. 制造商们马上要生产一种新产品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 holders   

支持物( holder的名词复数 )； 持有者； （支票等）持有人； 支托（或握持）…之物

参考例句：

• Slaves were mercilessly ground down by slave holders. 奴隶受奴隶主的残酷压迫。
• It is recognition of compassion's part that leads the up-holders of capital punishment to accuse the abolitionists of sentimentality in being more sorry for the murderer than for his victim. 正是对怜悯的作用有了认识，才使得死刑的提倡者指控主张废除死刑的人感情用事，同情谋杀犯胜过同情受害者。

5 reset   

v.重新安排，复位；n.重新放置；重放之物

参考例句：

• As soon as you arrive at your destination,step out of the aircraft and reset your wristwatch.你一到达目的地，就走出飞机并重新设置手表时间。
• He is recovering from an operation to reset his arm.他做了一个手臂复位手术，正在恢复。

6 tedder   

n.（干草）翻晒者，翻晒机

参考例句：

• Jim Tedder has more. 吉姆？特德将给我们做更多的介绍。 来自互联网
• Jim Tedder tells us more. 吉姆？泰德给我们带来更详细的报道。 来自互联网