新西兰英语 59 Global Financial Problems

　　Financial problems in the US have been going from bad to worse. Last week the US Government took over the mortgage¹ investment² companies, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. On Monday this week, Lehman Brothers, the 4th biggest investment bank, went bankrupt³. It has been in business for 158 years. Merrill Lynch, another big investment company, was bought by the Bank of America for $50 billion. Then the next day, the US Federal⁴ Reserve decided⁵ to help the global insurance company, AIG, by buying an 80% share in the company for $85 billion. If AIG went bankrupt, it could affect financial markets around the world.
New Zealand, like other countries, is worried about how the US financial problems could affect our markets. At first, our share market dropped along with other major world markets, but after the announcement about AIG, it rose again. New Zealand has a branch of AIG with about 200 staff; however, AIG has only 7% of New Zealand’s insurance business.
One good piece of news is that oil prices are down. The slowdown in the US economy has meant less demand for oil. In New Zealand, petrol is the lowest it has been for 17 weeks.
At the moment, it seems New Zealand is fairly safe from the financial problems that have hit the US. Our banks will probably not be affected⁶ but they are nearly all Australian owned. Australian banks borrow from overseas and may have to pay higher interest rates. While the US dollar has dropped against the New Zealand dollar, this can soon change. If more American companies go bankrupt, there could be flow-on effects around the world. Money markets in New Zealand are nervous. Anything can happen.
Dr Cullen, Minister of Finance⁷, felt confident about New Zealand’s economic position. He thought that the economy would improve towards the end of the year. Bill English, the finance spokesperson for the National Party, said that people would have to wait and see about the promised tax cuts. It was too early to know what will happen with world financial markets.

1 mortgage   

n.抵押，抵押贷款；vt.抵押

参考例句：

• He's having a lot of trouble paying his mortgage every month.他付每月的抵押借款利息有很大的困难。
• The bank refused to accept any mortgage on land.银行拒绝接受任何土地抵押。

2 investment   

n.投资，投资额；(时间、精力等的)投入

参考例句：

• It took two years before I recouped my investment.我用了两年时间才收回投资。
• The success of the project pivots on investment from abroad.这个工程的成功主要依靠外来投资。

3 bankrupt   

n.破产者；adj.破产的；vt.使...破产

参考例句：

• That factory has gone bankrupt.那家工厂倒了。
• The enemy's scheme went bankrupt.敌人的计谋破产了。

4 federal   

adj.联盟的；联邦的；(美国)联邦政府的

参考例句：

• Switzerland is a federal republic.瑞士是一个联邦共和国。
• The schools are screaming for federal aid.那些学校强烈要求联邦政府的援助。

5 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

6 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

7 finance   

n.财务管理，财政，金融，财源，资金

参考例句：

• She is an expert in finance.她是一名财政专家。
• A finance house made a bid to buy up the entire company.一家信贷公司出价买下了整个公司。