VOA标准英语2008年-Global Markets in Disarray Despite US Governmen

Equity¹ markets in Europe and the Americas declined sharply on Wednesday as investors² worried that the overnight decision by U.S. authorities to take over the troubled insurer American International Group, or AIG, may not be enough to stem the financial crisis. VOA's Economics Correspondent Barry Wood has more.
　
An American International Group (AIG) office building in London, 16 Sep 2008

The seizure³ of AIG by federal authorities is one of the biggest government interventions⁴ in the U.S. economy in history. The giant insurer, which operates worldwide, was seen as too big to fail and that its collapse⁵ would undermine the financial system. In addition to traditional insurance products, AIG is a huge player in insuring the loan portfolios⁶ of financial institutions.

On Tuesday night, the U.S. Federal Reserve, America's central bank, extended a two-year $85-billion emergency loan to AIG that will allow the firm to remain in business. In return, the government will own 80 percent of AIG and will be paid 11 percent interest on the loan.

Peter Boockvar of Miller⁷ Tabak securities says such a large government bailout of a private sector⁸ company carries significant risks.

"I mean the 85 billion they're lending to AIG, they can just turn the printing presses and create that out of thin air. And I think that is what we're seeing," said Peter Boockvar. "The response to that is that gold is up 55 dollars. The market is catching⁹ on to this. The Fed [the Federal Reserve] and the U.S. government can't just print money out of thin air and have people not pay attention."

Speaking on Bloomberg Television, Boockvar said he expects the dollar to weaken as a result of the expensive government rescue of both AIG, and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac - the two giant government-sponsored home mortgage institutions.

The Federal Reserve and Treasury¹⁰ actions are intended to calm financial markets that are deeply unsettled by a 13-month credit crisis that began with a wave of home mortgage defaults related to the downturn in U.S. home prices.

Six months ago, the government rescued Bear Stearns, a big investment bank that faced bankruptcy¹¹ because of losses on sub-prime mortgage loans. Lehman Brothers - the fourth largest U.S. investment bank - filed for bankruptcy this week.

This month, the government nationalized Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac after their share prices fell by nearly 90 percent. A similar share price collapse occurred with AIG.

Analyst¹² Peter Boockvar says the loss of billions of dollars of wealth in the stock market decline will have an adverse¹³ impact on the U.S. and global economies.

"Don't be lulled¹⁴ into thinking there are not going to be any more AIGs or Fannie Maes, no more Lehmans [Lehman Brothers], and that everything is OK," he said. "There are going to be repercussions¹⁵ from this that last a long period of time."

But Ron Rimkus, a money manager at BB&T in North Carolina, says the government did the right thing in coming to AIG's rescue.

"These are important steps in the healing process, starting with Bear Stearns, getting Fannie and Freddie shored up, letting Lehman fail, getting AIG under conservatorship - these are important steps in the cleansing¹⁶ process," said Ron Rimkus.

The government's actions in attempting to stabilize¹⁷ financial markets are controversial and, thus far, have not been very successful. Many experts say stability is unlikely to be achieved until there is a recovery in the U.S. housing market - something that has not yet occurred.

 

1 equity   

n.公正，公平，（无固定利息的）股票

参考例句：

• They shared the work of the house with equity.他们公平地分担家务。
• To capture his equity,Murphy must either sell or refinance.要获得资产净值，墨菲必须出售或者重新融资。

2 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

3 seizure   

n.没收；占有；抵押

参考例句：

• The seizure of contraband is made by customs.那些走私品是被海关没收的。
• The courts ordered the seizure of all her property.法院下令查封她所有的财产。

4 interventions   

n.介入，干涉，干预( intervention的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Economic analysis of government interventions deserves detailed discussion. 政府对经济的干预应该给予充分的论述。 来自辞典例句
• The judge's frequent interventions made a mockery of justice. 法官的屡屡干预是对正义的践踏。 来自互联网

5 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

6 portfolios   

n.投资组合( portfolio的名词复数 )；（保险）业务量；（公司或机构提供的）系列产品；纸夹

参考例句：

• Price risk arises in non-trading portfolios, as well as in trading portfolios. 价格风险中出现的非贸易投资，以及在贸易投资组合。 来自互联网
• How do we fatten our portfolios and stay financially healthy? 我们怎样育肥我们的投资结构和维持财政健康呢？ 来自互联网

7 miller   

n.磨坊主

参考例句：

• Every miller draws water to his own mill.磨坊主都往自己磨里注水。
• The skilful miller killed millions of lions with his ski.技术娴熟的磨坊主用雪橇杀死了上百万头狮子。

8 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

9 catching   

adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住

参考例句：

• There are those who think eczema is catching.有人就是认为湿疹会传染。
• Enthusiasm is very catching.热情非常富有感染力。

10 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。

11 bankruptcy   

n.破产；无偿付能力

参考例句：

• You will have to pull in if you want to escape bankruptcy.如果你想避免破产，就必须节省开支。
• His firm is just on thin ice of bankruptcy.他的商号正面临破产的危险。

12 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

13 adverse   

adj.不利的；有害的；敌对的，不友好的

参考例句：

• He is adverse to going abroad.他反对出国。
• The improper use of medicine could lead to severe adverse reactions.用药不当会产生严重的不良反应。

14 lulled   

vt.使镇静，使安静（lull的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• They lulled her into a false sense of security. 他们哄骗她，使她产生一种虚假的安全感。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The movement of the train lulled me to sleep. 火车轻微的震动催我进入梦乡。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 repercussions   

n.后果，反响( repercussion的名词复数 )；余波

参考例句：

• The collapse of the company will have repercussions for the whole industry. 这家公司的垮台将会给整个行业造成间接的负面影响。
• Human acts have repercussions far beyond the frontiers of the human world. 人类行为所产生的影响远远超出人类世界的范围。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 cleansing   

n. 净化(垃圾) adj. 清洁用的 动词cleanse的现在分词

参考例句：

• medicated cleansing pads for sensitive skin 敏感皮肤药物清洗棉
• Soap is not the only cleansing agent. 肥皂并不是唯一的清洁剂。

17 stabilize   

vt.（使）稳定，使稳固，使稳定平衡；vi.稳定

参考例句：

• They are eager to stabilize currencies.他们急于稳定货币。
• His blood pressure tended to stabilize.他的血压趋向稳定。