VOA慢速英语2010年-Economics Report - Fed Gets Ready to P

This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.
The Federal Reserve calls America’s economic recovery "disappointingly slow." So the Federal Reserve decided¹ Wednesday to add six hundred billion dollars to the financial system by the middle of next year. To do this, the central bank will buy Treasury² securities from dealers³.
The action is known as quantitative⁴ easing. The goal is to reduce long-term interest rates. The hope is to create conditions where businesses will invest more and people will spend more.
Buying longer-term Treasury securities will make less government debt available to investors⁵. This will raise the price. As bond prices rise, their rates fall.
Long-term securities affect rates on home mortgages and other loans. Lower rates on corporate⁶ bonds could lead businesses to invest in more equipment and jobs.
Lowering short-term interest rates is the Federal Reserve's main way to get banks to increase lending. But those rates are already near zero.
The Fed earlier bought one trillion seven hundred fifty billion dollars of Treasuries⁷ and other securities. That program ended in March.
Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, writing in The Washington Post, said "Easier financial conditions will promote economic growth." But interest rates are already low. And critics say further cuts are unlikely to create much growth.
Inflation also is low -- so low that some economists⁸ worry more about the risk of falling prices and wages. But others say pumping more money into the economy will weaken the value of the dollar. They say it could raise inflation to dangerous levels -- and not just in America.
Interest rates in the United States and Europe are lower than in Asia and Latin America. As a result, Asian and Latin American economies are already struggling with an overflow⁹ of investments.
Large flows of capital can raise currency values and make export-based economies less competitive. Several nations are considering limits on capital.
The Fed’s action this week had been expected. But it comes as the heads of twenty leading economies prepare for talks in South Korea next week. And it came a day after the Republican Party retook control of the House of Representatives from the Democrats¹⁰.
President Obama has invited leaders of both parties to meet on November eighteenth. One immediate¹¹ issue: what to do with tax cuts that are set to end next month.
And that's the VOA Special English Economics Report. I'm Steve Ember.

1 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

2 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。

3 dealers   

n.商人( dealer的名词复数 )；贩毒者；毒品贩子；发牌者

参考例句：

• There was fast bidding between private collectors and dealers. 私人收藏家和交易商急速竞相喊价。
• The police were corrupt and were operating in collusion with the drug dealers. 警察腐败，与那伙毒品贩子内外勾结。

4 quantitative   

adj.数量的，定量的

参考例句：

• He said it was only a quantitative difference.他说这仅仅是数量上的差别。
• We need to do some quantitative analysis of the drugs.我们对药物要进行定量分析。

5 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

6 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

7 treasuries   

n.（政府的）财政部( treasury的名词复数 )；国库，金库

参考例句：

• Yields on Treasuries, Bunds and gilts can remain at historically low levels. 美国国债、德国国债和英国国债的收益率仍然可以维持在历史低位。 来自互联网
• Treasuries and gold rose in response but the dollar fell sharply. 接着，国债和黄金的价格上涨，而美元价格则猛跌。 来自互联网

8 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》

9 overflow   

v.(使)外溢，(使)溢出；溢出，流出，漫出

参考例句：

• The overflow from the bath ran on to the floor.浴缸里的水溢到了地板上。
• After a long period of rain,the river may overflow its banks.长时间的下雨天后，河水可能溢出岸来。

10 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。