VOA标准英语10月-Experts Urge Greater Regulation of Financial Mark

Economic experts appearing at a congressional hearing have urged lawmakers to carry out substantial but carefully planned financial market and institutional reforms. A House of Representatives committee held an all-day hearing Tuesday on the subject, one of a series of examinations of the U.S. financial crisis. VOA Dan Robinson reports.

Majority Democrats² have repeatedly underscored their intention to legislate³ major changes to impose greater regulation on financial markets when a new Congress convenes⁴ next year.

The hearing of the House Financial Services Committee covered numerous complex aspects of the sub-prime mortgage-based financial crisis, and the role played by complicated financial instruments.

Experts and lawmakers debated root causes, but agreed that further action is required. To accomplish that, Democrats and Republicans will have to agree on a way forward.

As of now, there is strong bipartisan agreement on the need to throughly examine how the crisis came about, to perform an autopsy⁵ as one lawmaker called it, as well as steps to ensure it does not recur⁶.

Here are Pennsylvania Democrat¹ Paul Kanjorski, and New Jersey⁷ Republican Scott Garrett:

KANJORSKI: "We have reached a crossroads. Because our current regulatory regime has failed we now must design a robust⁸, effective, supervisory system for the future."

GARRETT: "It's important that we work in a bipartisan fashion to move forward to ensure that we put in place the property regulatory framework to allow our economy to grow again."

But there are differences in approach as many Republicans voice opposition⁹ to any future over-regulation of markets.

Alabama Republican Spencer Bachus, and Georgia's Tom Price:

BACHUS: "We need, I think number one, to realize there are limits on what government can do to intervene in this market process."

PRICE: "What is taking place is truly unprecedented¹⁰. Direct federal intervention¹¹ in individual mortgages, broad over-reach by the Federal Reserve, unlimited¹² use of taxpayer¹³ dollars and steps to nationalize banks. These steps are in their totality, I fear, an assault on American principles and on capitalism¹⁴ itself."

Experts stressed that where financial market reform is concerned the question is not one of too much or too little, but the most effective way to carry it out.
　

From left: Joseph Stiglitz, Joel Seligman, Manuel Johnson testifying before the House Financial Services Committee, 21 Oct 2008

Joseph Stiglitz, the 2001 Nobel economics prize laureate, is a strong proponent¹⁵ of an active government role:

"The de-regulatory philosophy that has prevailed during the past quarter century has no grounding in economic theory nor historical experience," said Joseph Stiglitz. "Quite the contrary, modern economic theory explains why the government must take an active role especially in regulating financial markets."

Key priorities, Stiglitz argues, should be broader reform of financial corporate¹⁶ governance, and protection for American homeowners as the U.S. economy slides deeper into recession.

Manuel Johnson, a noted¹⁷ financial accounting¹⁸ expert, argues for a cautious approach that would not, as he puts it, role back the gains made in the U.S. financial system:

"From my perspective, permanent government control over the credit allocation process is economically inefficient¹⁹ and potentially, even more unstable," said Manuel Johnson.

Joel Seligman of Columbia University says members of Congress must distinguish between emergency legislation, such as the more than $700-billion rescue package approved recently, and longer-term efforts. He urges lawmakers to organize and streamline²⁰ their investigations:

"I would strongly urge each house of Congress to create a select committee similar to that employed after September 11th [2001], to provide a focused and less contentious²¹ review of what should be done," said Joel Seligman.

Economist²² Alice Rivlin urges lawmakers to, as she puts it, check their philosophical²³ slogans at the door as they go to work on what she calls a difficult and painstaking²⁴ job:

"Too many attempts to re-think regulation of financial markets in recent years have been de-railed by ideologues shouting that regulation is always bad or alternatively that we just need more of it," sid Alice Rivlin.

Tuesday's House hearing was one of several that congressional committees are holding on the financial crisis ahead of the U.S presidential election on November 4

1 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

2 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》

3 legislate   

vt.制定法律；n.法规，律例；立法

参考例句：

• Therefore,it is very urgent to legislate for the right of privacy.因此，为隐私权立法刻不容缓。
• It's impossible to legislate for every contingency.为每一偶发事件都立法是不可能的。

4 convenes   

召开( convene的第三人称单数 )； 召集； （为正式会议而）聚集； 集合

参考例句：

• The Premier convenes and presides over the executive meetings and plenary meetings of the State Council. 总理召集和主持国务院常务会议和国务院全体会议。 来自汉英非文学 - 中国宪法
• Chinese woman tenth the National People Congress convenes grandly today in Beijing. 中国妇女第十次全国代表大会今天在北京隆重召开。

5 autopsy   

n.尸体解剖；尸检

参考例句：

• They're carrying out an autopsy on the victim.他们正在给受害者验尸。
• A hemorrhagic gut was the predominant lesion at autopsy.尸检的主要发现是肠出血。

6 recur   

vi.复发，重现，再发生

参考例句：

• Economic crises recur periodically.经济危机周期性地发生。
• Of course,many problems recur at various periods.当然，有许多问题会在不同的时期反复提出。

7 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

8 robust   

adj.强壮的，强健的，粗野的，需要体力的，浓的

参考例句：

• She is too tall and robust.她个子太高，身体太壮。
• China wants to keep growth robust to reduce poverty and avoid job losses,AP commented.美联社评论道，中国希望保持经济强势增长，以减少贫困和失业状况。

9 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

10 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

11 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。

12 unlimited   

adj.无限的，不受控制的，无条件的

参考例句：

• They flew over the unlimited reaches of the Arctic.他们飞过了茫茫无边的北极上空。
• There is no safety in unlimited technological hubris.在技术方面自以为是会很危险。

13 taxpayer   

n.纳税人

参考例句：

• The new scheme will run off with a lot of the taxpayer's money.这项新计划将用去纳税人许多钱。
• The taxpayer are unfavourably disposed towards the recent tax increase.纳税者对最近的增加税收十分反感。

14 capitalism   

n.资本主义

参考例句：

• The essence of his argument is that capitalism cannot succeed.他的论点的核心是资本主义不能成功。
• Capitalism began to develop in Russia in the 19th century.十九世纪资本主义在俄国开始发展。

15 proponent   

n.建议者；支持者；adj.建议的

参考例句：

• Stapp became a strong early proponent of automobile seat belts.斯塔普是力主在汽车上采用座椅安全带的早期倡导者。
• Halsey was identified as a leading proponent of the values of progressive education.哈尔西被认为是进步教育价值观的主要支持者。

16 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。

17 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

18 accounting   

n.会计，会计学，借贷对照表

参考例句：

• A job fell vacant in the accounting department.财会部出现了一个空缺。
• There's an accounting error in this entry.这笔账目里有差错。

19 inefficient   

adj.效率低的，无效的

参考例句：

• The inefficient operation cost the firm a lot of money.低效率的运作使该公司损失了许多钱。
• Their communication systems are inefficient in the extreme.他们的通讯系统效率非常差。

20 streamline   

vt.使成流线型；使简化；使现代化

参考例句：

• We must streamline our methods.我们必须简化方法。
• Any liquid or gas passing it will have streamline flow.任何通过它的液体或气体将呈流线型的流动。

21 contentious   

adj.好辩的，善争吵的

参考例句：

• She was really not of the contentious fighting sort.她委实不是好吵好闹的人。
• Since then they have tended to steer clear of contentious issues.从那时起，他们总想方设法避开有争议的问题。

22 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。

23 philosophical   

adj.哲学家的，哲学上的，达观的

参考例句：

• The teacher couldn't answer the philosophical problem.老师不能解答这个哲学问题。
• She is very philosophical about her bad luck.她对自己的不幸看得很开。

24 painstaking   

adj.苦干的；艰苦的，费力的，刻苦的

参考例句：

• She is not very clever but she is painstaking.她并不很聪明，但肯下苦功夫。
• Through years of our painstaking efforts,we have at last achieved what we have today.大家经过多少年的努力，才取得今天的成绩。