2023年经济学人 硅谷银行倒闭标志金融市场进入新阶段(1)

 

 

    Finance & economics

    财经版块

    Buttonwood

    梧桐树专栏

    Fed bound

    美联储的约束

    Silicon¹ Valley Bank’s demise² signals a painful new phase in financial markets.

    硅谷银行倒闭标志金融市场进入痛苦的新阶段。

    To quell³ inflation, goes the adage⁴, central bankers must tighten⁵ monetary⁶ policy until something breaks.

    有句谚语说，为了抑制通胀，央行官员必须收紧货币政策，直到某些东西崩溃。

    For much of the past year this cliché has been easy to dismiss.

    在过去一年的大部分时间里，这种陈词滥调很容易被人忽视。

    Starting in March 2022, America’s Federal Reserve has raised rates at the fastest clip since the 1980s.

    从2022年3月开始，美联储以自上世纪80年代以来最快的速度加息。

    Even as markets plunged⁷, the world’s financial system stayed wreckage-free.

    即使市场暴跌，世界金融体系也没有遭到破坏。

    When British pension funds wobbled in September, the Bank of England swiftly helped right them.

    当英国养老基金在9月份摇摇欲坠时，英格兰银行迅速帮助其恢复正常。

    The most notable collapse⁸--that of ftx, a disgraced former crypto exchange--was well outside the mainstream⁹ and, regulators say, caused by fraud rather than the Fed.

    最引人注意的崩溃，即名誉扫地的前加密货币交易平台FTX的崩溃，远在主流市场之外，监管机构表示，这是由欺诈而非美联储造成的。

    Now something has broken.

    现在，有些东西崩溃了。

    The failure of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), a mid-tier American lender that went bust¹⁰ on March 10th, sent shock waves through markets.

    3月10日，美国中型贷款机构硅谷银行(SVB)破产，给市场带来巨大冲击。

    Most noticeable were convulsions in the stocks of other banks, which investors¹¹ worried may have similar vulnerabilities.

    最引人注目的表现是其他银行的股票发生震荡，投资者担心这些银行可能存在类似的脆弱性。

    Nasdaq’s index of bank stocks dropped by a quarter in the course of a week, erasing¹² gains from the preceding 25 years.

    纳斯达克的银行股指数在一周内下跌了四分之一，将过去25年的增长一下抹去。

    Shares in American regional lenders were bludgeoned much harder.

    美国地区性贷款机构的股票也遭受了更为沉重的打击。

    Then the turmoil¹³ went global: shares in Credit Suisse, a European bank, cratered¹⁴ on March 15th.

    然后，动荡蔓延至全球：欧洲银行瑞士信贷的股价在3月15日跌至谷底。

    Financial markets have entered a new phase, in which the Fed’s tightening¹⁵ cycle starts to bite.

    金融市场进入了一个新阶段，美联储的紧缩周期开始引起刺痛。

    One feature of this phase is that markets are suddenly working with the Fed rather than against it.

    这一阶段的一个特点是，市场突然开始与美联储合作，而不是与其作对。

    For more than a year, the central bank’s officials have been repeating the same message:

    一年多来，央行官员一直在重复同样的信息：

    that inflation is proving more stubborn than expected, meaning interest rates will need to rise higher than previously¹⁶ predicted.

    事实证明，通胀比预期更顽固，这意味着利率需要比之前预测的有更大幅度的提高。

    This message was reinforced by data released on March 14th showing that underlying¹⁷ consumer prices had once again risen faster than expected.

    3月14日发布的数据强化了这一信息，数据显示，潜在消费者价格再次以快于预期的速度上涨。

    Policymakers want to tighten financial conditions--such as lending standards, interest costs or money-market liquidity—in order to reduce aggregate¹⁸ demand and cool price rises.

    政策制定者希望收紧金融环境--如贷款标准、利息成本或货币市场流动性--以减少总需求并为价格上涨降温。

    Since October, markets have been pulling in the other direction.

    自去年10月以来，市场一直在向相反的方向发展。

    A gauge¹⁹ of financial conditions compiled by Bloomberg, a data provider, has shown them steadily²⁰ loosening.

    数据提供者彭博社对金融环境的衡量数据显示，金融环境正在稳步放松。

    Over the past week, all this loosening has been reversed.

    在过去一周里，所有这些放松趋势都发生了逆转。

    SVB’s collapse has shocked markets into doing the Fed’s job.

    硅谷银行的倒闭震惊了市场，促使其开始履行美联储的职责。

1 silicon   

n.硅(旧名矽)

参考例句：

• This company pioneered the use of silicon chip.这家公司开创了使用硅片的方法。
• A chip is a piece of silicon about the size of a postage stamp.芯片就是一枚邮票大小的硅片。

2 demise   

n.死亡；v.让渡，遗赠，转让

参考例句：

• He praised the union's aims but predicted its early demise.他赞扬协会的目标，但预期这一协会很快会消亡。
• The war brought about the industry's sudden demise.战争道致这个行业就这么突然垮了。

3 quell   

v.压制，平息，减轻

参考例句：

• Soldiers were sent in to quell the riots.士兵们被派去平息骚乱。
• The armed force had to be called out to quell violence.不得不出动军队来镇压暴力行动。

4 adage   

n.格言，古训

参考例句：

• But the old adage that men grow into office has not proved true in my experience.但是，根据我的经验，人们所谓的工作岗位造就人材这句古话并不正确。
• Her experience lends credence to the adage " We live and learn!"她的经验印证了一句格言: 活到老，学到老！

5 tighten   

v.(使)变紧；(使)绷紧

参考例句：

• Turn the screw to the right to tighten it.向右转动螺钉把它拧紧。
• Some countries tighten monetary policy to avoid inflation.一些国家实行紧缩银根的货币政策，以避免通货膨胀。

6 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。

7 plunged   

v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降

参考例句：

• The train derailed and plunged into the river. 火车脱轨栽进了河里。
• She lost her balance and plunged 100 feet to her death. 她没有站稳，从100英尺的高处跌下摔死了。

8 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。

9 mainstream   

n.（思想或行为的）主流；adj.主流的

参考例句：

• Their views lie outside the mainstream of current medical opinion.他们的观点不属于当今医学界观点的主流。
• Polls are still largely reflects the mainstream sentiment.民调还在很大程度上反映了社会主流情绪。

10 bust   

vt.打破；vi.爆裂；n.半身像；胸部

参考例句：

• I dropped my camera on the pavement and bust it. 我把照相机掉在人行道上摔坏了。
• She has worked up a lump of clay into a bust.她把一块黏土精心制作成一个半身像。

11 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

12 erasing   

v.擦掉( erase的现在分词 )；抹去；清除

参考例句：

• He was like a sponge, erasing the past, soaking up the future. 他象一块海绵，挤出过去，吸进未来。 来自辞典例句
• Suddenly, fear overtook longing, erasing memories. 突然，恐惧淹没了渴望，泯灭了回忆。 来自辞典例句

13 turmoil   

n.骚乱，混乱，动乱

参考例句：

• His mind was in such a turmoil that he couldn't get to sleep.内心的纷扰使他无法入睡。
• The robbery put the village in a turmoil.抢劫使全村陷入混乱。

14 cratered   

adj.有坑洞的，多坑的v.火山口( crater的过去分词 )；弹坑等

参考例句：

• The surface cratered with the constant dropping of water. 表面因经常滴水而成坑。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Artillery cratered the roads. 炮击后大路布满了弹坑。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

15 tightening   

上紧，固定，紧密

参考例句：

• Make sure the washer is firmly seated before tightening the pipe. 旋紧水管之前，检查一下洗衣机是否已牢牢地固定在底座上了。
• It needs tightening up a little. 它还需要再收紧些。

16 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

17 underlying   

adj.在下面的，含蓄的，潜在的

参考例句：

• The underlying theme of the novel is very serious.小说隐含的主题是十分严肃的。
• This word has its underlying meaning.这个单词有它潜在的含义。

18 aggregate   

adj.总计的，集合的；n.总数；v.合计；集合

参考例句：

• The football team had a low goal aggregate last season.这支足球队上个赛季的进球总数很少。
• The money collected will aggregate a thousand dollars.进帐总额将达一千美元。

19 gauge   

v.精确计量；估计；n.标准度量；计量器

参考例句：

• Can you gauge what her reaction is likely to be?你能揣测她的反应可能是什么吗？
• It's difficult to gauge one's character.要判断一个人的品格是很困难的。

20 steadily   

adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地

参考例句：

• The scope of man's use of natural resources will steadily grow.人类利用自然资源的广度将日益扩大。
• Our educational reform was steadily led onto the correct path.我们的教学改革慢慢上轨道了。