VOA慢速英语2010年-Economics Report - How a Promise to Gu

This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.
On Wednesday, Ireland's Prime Minister Brian Cowen announced measures to cut the biggest budget deficit¹ in Europe.
BRIAN COWEN: "Today we've come to announce a four-year plan, between now and 2014. It's to bring certainty for our people. It's to ensure they have hope for the future."The plan aims to cut spending and raise taxes by twenty billion dollars. These austerity measures are a step toward getting aid from the European Union and the International Monetary² Fund.
But Mr. Cowen's government could fall before next year's budget is passed.
The government asked for help Sunday after weeks of saying it did not need any. The EU and the IMF are expected to provide about one hundred fifteen billion dollars -- or about half of Ireland’s economy.
Ireland got into trouble by guaranteeing the debts of its banks during the world financial crisis two years ago. That promise has now cost over sixty billion dollars.
Roisin O'Sullivan is an economics professor at Smith College in Massachusetts and a former economist³ at the Central Bank of Ireland.
Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen speaks to reporters in Dublin on Sunday ROISIN O'SULLIVAN: "What was different about the Irish approach was that all deposits were guaranteed and bondholders, investors⁴ that had bought bonds in these banks, also received the government guarantee. This was a more extensive bailout than most countries pursued."Professor O'Sullivan says Irish bankers and banking⁵ supervisors⁶ had too close of a relationship.
Ireland was known as the "Celtic Tiger" in the nineteen nineties. Its educated, English-speaking workers and low taxes appealed to foreign companies. Its economy grew quickly.
But foreign investment and low interest rates inflated⁷ a property bubble, raising prices to levels that could not be supported. Bad property loans hit hard at Ireland's main banks. Unemployment is over thirteen percent.
Ireland's bank bailout and government spending have expanded this year's deficit to more than thirty percent of gross domestic product. This is ten times the EU limit for a deficit in relation to the size of an economy, as measured by GDP.
But John James at Pace University in New York state says there is little the European Union can do. Germany and France want to give the European Commission more power over national budgets. For now, rescues by the European Central Bank and other lenders are the only answer in a debt crisis.
EU officials want to complete the Irish aid plan quickly. They want to be ready in case of more bad news from economies like Greece, Portugal and Spain.
And that’s the VOA Special English Economics Report, written by Mario Ritter. I'm Steve Ember.

1 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。

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 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

4 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

5 banking   

n.银行业，银行学，金融业

参考例句：

• John is launching his son on a career in banking.约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。
• He possesses an extensive knowledge of banking.他具有广博的银行业务知识。

6 supervisors   

n.监督者，管理者( supervisor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• I think the best technical people make the best supervisors. 我认为最好的技术人员可以成为最好的管理人员。 来自辞典例句
• Even the foremen or first-level supervisors have a staffing responsibility. 甚至领班或第一线的监督人员也有任用的责任。 来自辞典例句

7 inflated   

adj.（价格）飞涨的；（通货）膨胀的；言过其实的；充了气的v.使充气（于轮胎、气球等）( inflate的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）膨胀；（使）通货膨胀；物价上涨

参考例句：

• He has an inflated sense of his own importance. 他自视过高。
• They all seem to take an inflated view of their collective identity. 他们对自己的集体身份似乎都持有一种夸大的看法。 来自《简明英汉词典》