VOA慢速英语2010年-Economics Report - G-20 Nations Wonder

This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.

This weekend, leaders and top finance officials from the world’s twenty biggest economies gather in Toronto, Canada. One of the big issues to discuss is how and when to reduce deficits¹ and economic growth measures as conditions improve.

Chancellor² Angela Merkel is defending Germany's decision to cut spending by one hundred billion dollars over four years. But some experts say the world economy is still too weak for Europe’s biggest country to reduce spending.

Earlier this year, Germany was slow to react to the Greek debt crisis. European countries later had to agree to a nearly one trillion dollar rescue for the euro area.

Other countries including Britain, France and Japan have also announced cuts. But American Treasury³ Secretary Tim Geithner says: "Without growth now, deficits will rise further and undermine future growth."

Economists⁵ also point out that spending cuts alone do not solve the problems of countries with structural⁶ economic problems.

G-20 nations are also struggling with financial reform issues. These include new rules for risky⁷ financial products and closer supervision⁸ of banks.

Police officers stand watch in Toronto on Thursday ahead of the G-20 gathering⁹

This week, Britain's finance minister announced a new tax on big banks. Germany and France are considering similar measures to pay for future financial problems. President Obama proposed the idea for the United States in January. But how many countries will join Britain is not clear.

Nineteen countries and the European Union form the Group of 20, including developing economies like Brazil, China, India and Russia. Economist⁴ Sebastian Mallaby at the Council on Foreign Relations says G-20 nations should work together on financial reforms.

SEBASTIAN MALLABY: "Financial institutions are cross-border, they are multi-national, they are global. So you ought to have global rules to try and deal with them. But that is not the way the Congress is dealing¹⁰ with them in the United States, and that is not the way I expect European regulators will go either.”

G-20 nations also face the issue of trade imbalances, like the one between the United States and China. As recently as last week China said it would not discuss the dispute over its currency at the Toronto summit. But last Saturday China announced it will slowly let the value of the yuan rise. This week, it reached its highest exchange rate in two years.

China's export prices may rise, but an American diplomat¹¹ said the action "takes an irritant off the table in the U.S.-China relationship."

And that’s the VOA Special English Economics report, written by Mario Ritter and with reporting by Jim Randle. For news from the G-20 summit, go to voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Steve Ember.

 

1 deficits   

n.不足额( deficit的名词复数 )；赤字；亏空；亏损

参考例句：

• The Ministry of Finance consistently overestimated its budget deficits. 财政部一贯高估预算赤字。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Many of the world's farmers are also incurring economic deficits. 世界上许多农民还在遭受经济上的亏损。 来自辞典例句

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 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。

4 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

5 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》

6 structural   

adj.构造的，组织的，建筑（用）的

参考例句：

• The storm caused no structural damage.风暴没有造成建筑结构方面的破坏。
• The North American continent is made up of three great structural entities.北美大陆是由三个构造单元组成的。

7 risky   

adj.有风险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• It may be risky but we will chance it anyhow.这可能有危险，但我们无论如何要冒一冒险。
• He is well aware how risky this investment is.他心里对这项投资的风险十分清楚。

8 supervision   

n.监督，管理

参考例句：

• The work was done under my supervision.这项工作是在我的监督之下完成的。
• The old man's will was executed under the personal supervision of the lawyer.老人的遗嘱是在律师的亲自监督下执行的。

9 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

10 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

11 diplomat   

n.外交官，外交家；能交际的人，圆滑的人

参考例句：

• The diplomat threw in a joke, and the tension was instantly relieved.那位外交官插进一个笑话，紧张的气氛顿时缓和下来。
• He served as a diplomat in Russia before the war.战前他在俄罗斯当外交官。