2021年经济学人 美财政部长称不提高债务上限的后果是灾难性的（在线收听）

The world this week - Business

本周国际要闻——商业

Janet Yellen, America’s treasury secretary, gave her strongest warning yet on the potential consequences of not raising the federal debt limit, saying it would be “catastrophic”.

美国财政部长珍妮特·耶伦就不提高联邦债务上限的潜在后果发出了迄今为止最强烈的警告，称这将是“灾难性的”。

The Treasury estimates that it will run out of money by October 18th unless the ceiling is increased to allow the government to continue borrowing.

财政部估计，除非提高上限以允许政府继续借款，否则政府将在10月18日耗尽资金。

Even with a stopgap resolution to avoid a government shutdown, the issue of lifting the debt limit still remains.

即使有了避免政府停摆的临时解决方案，提高债务上限的问题仍然存在。

Ms Yellen said the uncertainty was eroding investor confidence.

耶伦表示，不确定性正在侵蚀投资者信心。

Stockmarkets had their worst day in months on September 28th.

9月28日，股市经历了几个月来最糟糕的一天。

The S&P 500 dropped by 2% and the Nasdaq by 2.8%, its biggest decline in half a year.

标准普尔500指数下跌了2%，纳斯达克指数下跌了2.8%，这是半年来的最大跌幅。

European and Asian bourses also fell.

欧洲和亚洲股市也纷纷下跌。

The prospect of a government shutdown was just one factor unsettling investors.

政府停摆的预期只是令投资者不安的因素之一。

Markets are also digesting moves by central banks to taper their stimulus programmes, which has led to a sell-off in bonds.

市场也在消化各国央行缩减刺激计划的举措，这些举措已致使债券遭到抛售。

Natural-gas prices remained volatile, but were still rising sharply in Asia and Europe, and to a lesser degree in America.

天然气价格仍不稳定，但在亚洲和欧洲仍急剧上涨，美国的涨幅较小。

That fed into oil markets, as some industries switch to the commodity to keep the lights on.

随着一些行业转而使用石油（译者注：commodity直译为大宗货物，在这里指石油）以维持能源供应，石油市场也受到了影响。

The price of Brent crude crept up to $80 a barrel for the first time in three years.

布伦特原油价格三年来首次攀升至每桶80美元。

Battle lines were drawn in the American Senate over a possible second term for Jerome Powell as chairman of the Federal Reserve.

美国参议院就杰罗姆·鲍威尔可能连任美联储主席一事展开了争论。

Elizabeth Warren, a left-wing Democrat, became the first senator publicly to oppose Mr Powell remaining in office because of his past support for financial deregulation.

左翼民主党人伊丽莎白·沃伦成为首位公开反对鲍威尔留任的参议员，原因是他过去曾支持放松金融监管。

She called him “a dangerous man”.

她称鲍威尔是“一个危险的人”。

Joe Biden is expected to announce his decision on who should lead the central bank within the next few months.

乔·拜登预计将在未来几个月内宣布决定央行行长的人选。

Ford announced an $11bn plan to build three factories that will produce batteries for electric vehicles and another plant to make its F-series of electric pickup trucks.

福特宣布了一项110亿美元的计划，计划建设三家生产电动汽车电池的工厂，以及另一家生产F系列电动皮卡的工厂。

The investment is in partnership with SK Innovation, a South Korean company; the carmaker is providing $7bn.

这项投资是与韩国公司SK Innovation合作进行的；该汽车制造商将提供70亿美元资金。

Along with its Detroit rivals, General Motors and Stellantis, Ford has made a commitment to switch to greener motoring and wants 40% of its global sales to be electric by 2030.

与位于底特律的竞争对手通用汽车和斯特兰提斯一样，福特已经承诺转向生产更环保汽车，并希望到2030年其全球销售的40%来自电动汽车。