VOA标准英语2010-Central Bankers: Economic Depression Aver

Bold action by central banks and national governments staved off a global economic depression during the financial crisis of 2008 and 2009, but at a tremendous cost nations will struggle to overcome.  That is the conclusion of a panel of trans-Atlantic central bankers that recently convened¹ in Washington.

 

First the good news: after contracting slightly in 2009, global economic output is expected to grow more than 4 percent this year, according to the International Monetary² Fund.  With a fledgling recovery gaining strength, it is easy to forget how close major industrialized nations came to economic collapse³ less than two years ago, an outcome that almost surely would have triggered a worldwide depression rivaling the Great Depression of the 1930s.

In short, the pain, havoc⁴, and economic devastation⁵ could have been far worse, according to the head of the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, Texas, Richard Fisher.   Addressing central bankers from Europe and elsewhere, Fisher said central banks and national governments averted⁶ catastrophe⁷ through aggressive intervention⁸.

"We did our job.  A significant phase [crisis] has been passed through with as little harm done as conceivably could have been done under the circumstances.  And I believe we pulled the economy back from the abyss."

Success

To combat a crippling credit freeze, central banks slashed⁹ interest rates and pumped cash into credit markets.  To combat a severe economic slowdown, governments of major economies sharply boosted spending to stimulate¹⁰ activity.

Jurgen Stark¹¹, executive member of the European Central Bank, said the combined response proved a success. "It has to do to a large extent with the stimulus¹² measures taken by governments, and by the very vigorous response of central banks on the crisis. But this has a price," he said.

Price to pay

That price, according to Stark, is crushing debt. "Most governments in the advanced economies will exit from the recession with the highest deficits¹⁴ and the highest debt-to-GDP [gross domestic product] ratios recorded in times of peace," he said.

Stark said the debt burdens are unsustainable.  He said massive fiscal¹⁵ deficits will constrain¹⁶ economic growth and job creation, increase inflationary risks, boost interest rates, and reduce private investment in productive enterprises.

That warning was echoed by Richard Fisher of the U.S. Federal Reserve. "This is of great concern to us at the central bank," he said. "We spend too much money, and we take in too little of it in the United States."

But trimming deficits is the job of elected officials, and Fisher had a blunt message for them. "The bottom line: it is now time for our fiscal authorities to do what fiscal authorities are paid to do, why they were elected to Congress: bring about some balance.  And that will be a very tough battle," he said.

As in many countries, America's elected officials are loathe¹⁷ to raise taxes or cut spending, particularly when the economy is weak and millions are out of work.  U.S. President Barack Obama has proposed a freeze on non-entitlement domestic spending, while awaiting recommendations from a bipartisan commission tasked with charting a course to a balanced federal budget.  In the meantime, the U.S. federal deficit¹³ exceeded $1 trillion last year, and is projected to do so again this year.

 

1 convened   

召开( convene的过去式 )； 召集； （为正式会议而）聚集； 集合

参考例句：

• The chairman convened the committee to put the issue to a vote. 主席召集委员们开会对这个问题进行表决。
• The governor convened his troops to put down the revolt. 总督召集他的部队去镇压叛乱。

2 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。

3 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。

4 havoc   

n.大破坏，浩劫，大混乱，大杂乱

参考例句：

• The earthquake wreaked havoc on the city.地震对这个城市造成了大破坏。
• This concentration of airborne firepower wrought havoc with the enemy forces.这次机载火力的集中攻击给敌军造成很大破坏。

5 devastation   

n.毁坏；荒废；极度震惊或悲伤

参考例句：

• The bomb caused widespread devastation. 炸弹造成大面积破坏。
• There was devastation on every side. 到处都是破坏的创伤。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 averted   

防止，避免( avert的过去式和过去分词 )； 转移

参考例句：

• A disaster was narrowly averted. 及时防止了一场灾难。
• Thanks to her skilful handling of the affair, the problem was averted. 多亏她对事情处理得巧妙，才避免了麻烦。

7 catastrophe   

n.大灾难，大祸

参考例句：

• I owe it to you that I survived the catastrophe.亏得你我才大难不死。
• This is a catastrophe beyond human control.这是一场人类无法控制的灾难。

8 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。

9 slashed   

v.挥砍( slash的过去式和过去分词 )；鞭打；割破；削减

参考例句：

• Someone had slashed the tyres on my car. 有人把我的汽车轮胎割破了。
• He slashed the bark off the tree with his knife. 他用刀把树皮从树上砍下。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 stimulate   

vt.刺激，使兴奋；激励，使…振奋

参考例句：

• Your encouragement will stimulate me to further efforts.你的鼓励会激发我进一步努力。
• Success will stimulate the people for fresh efforts.成功能鼓舞人们去作新的努力。

11 stark   

adj.荒凉的；严酷的；完全的；adv.完全地

参考例句：

• The young man is faced with a stark choice.这位年轻人面临严峻的抉择。
• He gave a stark denial to the rumor.他对谣言加以完全的否认。

12 stimulus   

n.刺激，刺激物，促进因素，引起兴奋的事物

参考例句：

• Regard each failure as a stimulus to further efforts.把每次失利看成对进一步努力的激励。
• Light is a stimulus to growth in plants.光是促进植物生长的一个因素。

13 deficit   

n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差

参考例句：

• The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
• We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。

14 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

15 fiscal   

adj.财政的，会计的，国库的，国库岁入的

参考例句：

• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。
• The government has two basic strategies of fiscal policy available.政府有两个可行的财政政策基本战略。

16 constrain   

vt.限制，约束；克制，抑制

参考例句：

• She tried to constrain herself from a cough in class.上课时她竭力忍住不咳嗽。
• The study will examine the factors which constrain local economic growth.这项研究将考查抑制当地经济发展的因素。

17 loathe   

v.厌恶，嫌恶

参考例句：

• I loathe the smell of burning rubber.我厌恶燃着的橡胶散发的气味。
• You loathe the smell of greasy food when you are seasick.当你晕船时，你会厌恶油腻的气味。