美国国家公共电台 NPR--Fed chairman will testify before a pair of Congressional committees this week

Fed chairman will testify before a pair of Congressional committees this week

Transcript¹

Federal Reserve Chairman Powell answers questions from a Senate committee Wednesday. He's sure to be asked about inflation and possible fallout from the Fed's efforts to bring prices under control.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Jerome Powell has some explaining to do.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

The Federal Reserve chairman leads an agency with two jobs - keep unemployment and inflation low. Unemployment is low, but inflation has been climbing. One of the Fed's tools against inflation is interest rates, and it raised them sharply last week. But that can bring its own economic pain. Starting today, Powell faces questions in Congress.

INSKEEP: And NPR's Scott Horsley will be listening. Scott, good morning.

SCOTT HORSLEY, BYLINE²: Good morning, Steve.

INSKEEP: Hasn't Powell been much admired up to now?

HORSLEY: Yeah, he certainly has. He was confirmed to a second term as Fed chairman just last month on a vote of 80 to 19, which shows a rare level of bipartisan backing. That said, inflation is very high, and Americans are not happy about it. And so the Fed chairman is likely to get an earful from lawmakers who've been hearing plenty of complaints themselves from their constituents³. The Fed has begun moving aggressively to fight inflation, and Powell says he thinks there's a chance the central bank can bring it down without triggering a recession or a big jump in unemployment. But he acknowledges there are no guarantees.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

JEROME POWELL: Our objective really is to bring inflation down to 2% while the labor⁴ market remains⁵ strong. Many factors that we don't control are going to play a very significant role in deciding whether that's possible or not. There's a path for us to get there. It's not getting easier.

HORSLEY: Powell says a lot's going to depend on how things like the war in Ukraine play out - the war has driven up the price of gasoline and groceries - and, of course, the pandemic, which continues to throw curveballs at the economy.

INSKEEP: Are the higher interest rates, even though this is all very recent, already affecting the economy?

HORSLEY: Yes, you're seeing a squeeze, for example, in the housing market, and that's by design. Mortgage rates have climbed to around 6%, roughly double what they were a year ago, in anticipation⁶ of the Fed's move. And as a result, we've seen a drop in home sales and new home construction. Over time, you could see a similar slowdown in other parts of the economy. That's what it means for the Fed to tamp⁷ down demand and try to bring prices under control. Powell acknowledged knowing when to stop raising interest rates can be tricky⁸.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

POWELL: It's going to be a very difficult judgment⁹ to make or maybe not; maybe it'll be really clear. The worst mistake we could make would be to fail, which - it's not an option. You know, we have to restore price stability.

HORSLEY: Now, so far, both the president and Congress have given the Fed plenty of latitude¹⁰ to crack down on inflation. That means borrowing costs are likely to keep going up for anyone who has a credit card balance or who's shopping for a home or car loan.

INSKEEP: Let me ask about some other news here, Scott. The Biden administration wants to do something about gas prices. What's their idea?

HORSLEY: Yeah, the president's asking Congress to temporarily suspend the $0.18 a gallon federal tax on gasoline and the $0.24 a gallon tax on diesel¹¹ fuel through September in hopes that would cut prices at the pump. In economic terms, this doesn't make a lot of sense. The gas tax hasn't increased since 1993, so it's certainly not fueling inflation. And it's possible that little of the savings¹² from such a tax cut would actually be passed on to consumers. So this could amount to a $10 billion subsidy¹³ for the gasoline business. You'd be better off subsidizing bicycles or electric scooters or just about anything else. As a matter of political signaling, though, this proposal does show how desperate the White House is to look as though it's doing something about high gasoline prices, which, by the way, have already fallen about $0.06 a gallon in the last week.

INSKEEP: OK. Happy to pocket that $0.06. Scott, thanks so much.

HORSLEY: You're welcome.

INSKEEP: NPR's Scott Horsley.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 constituents   

n.选民( constituent的名词复数 )；成分；构成部分；要素

参考例句：

• She has the full support of her constituents. 她得到本区选民的全力支持。
• Hydrogen and oxygen are the constituents of water. 氢和氧是水的主要成分。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

5 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

6 anticipation   

n.预期，预料，期望

参考例句：

• We waited at the station in anticipation of her arrival.我们在车站等着，期待她的到来。
• The animals grew restless as if in anticipation of an earthquake.各种动物都变得焦躁不安，像是感到了地震即将发生。

7 tamp   

v.捣实，砸实

参考例句：

• Then I tamp down the soil with the back of a rake.然后我用耙子的背将土壤拍实。
• Philpott tamped a wad of tobacco into his pipe.菲尔波特往烟斗里塞了一卷碎烟叶。

8 tricky   

adj.狡猾的，奸诈的；(工作等)棘手的，微妙的

参考例句：

• I'm in a rather tricky position.Can you help me out?我的处境很棘手，你能帮我吗？
• He avoided this tricky question and talked in generalities.他回避了这个非常微妙的问题，只做了个笼统的表述。

9 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。

10 latitude   

n.纬度，行动或言论的自由(范围)，(pl.)地区

参考例句：

• The latitude of the island is 20 degrees south.该岛的纬度是南纬20度。
• The two cities are at approximately the same latitude.这两个城市差不多位于同一纬度上。

11 diesel   

n.柴油发动机，内燃机

参考例句：

• We experimented with diesel engines to drive the pumps.我们试着用柴油机来带动水泵。
• My tractor operates on diesel oil.我的那台拖拉机用柴油开动。

12 savings   

n.存款，储蓄

参考例句：

• I can't afford the vacation,for it would eat up my savings.我度不起假，那样会把我的积蓄用光的。
• By this time he had used up all his savings.到这时，他的存款已全部用完。

13 subsidy   

n.补助金，津贴

参考例句：

• The university will receive a subsidy for research in artificial intelligence.那个大学将得到一笔人工智能研究的补助费。
• The living subsidy for senior expert's family is included in the remuneration.报酬已包含高级专家家人的生活补贴。