VOA慢速英语--专家忧心特朗普政策伤害经济发展

 

Despite rising stock prices, some experts remain concerned that economic proposals from the campaign of President Donald Trump¹ will hurt the economy.

Last year, some economists³ predicted large decreases in financial markets, reduced hiring and an increased risk of a recession.

However, stock market measures have reached record high levels in the month since Trump took office as the 45th president of the United States. Employment numbers have met expectations and consumer confidence has remained strong.

VOA spoke⁴ with economist² Mark Zandi of Moody’s Analytics, a company that provides research of financial markets. Zandi supported the economic proposals of Hillary Clinton’s campaign. And he remains⁵ concerned that economic measures proposed by the Trump administration will hurt the economy.

“If Mr. Trump got precisely⁶ what he wanted, the policy proposals that he had put forward, what would happen to the economy? And the answer is, the economy would go into a deep recession,” he said.

Zandi told VOA that he has not changed his position from last year. The economist noted⁷ that as president, Trump has not yet enacted⁸ any policies that he promised during the campaign.

“What he wanted was 11 million undocumented workers to leave the country. What he wanted was a 45 percent tariff⁹ on China, 35 percent on Mexico. What he wanted was tax cuts and government spending increases that would increase the budget deficit¹⁰ by $10 trillion over 10 years. So if that is what he got, that would lead to a recession,” Zandi said.

Others, however, say the increase in stock prices shows that investors¹¹ are optimistic about the future. They say many people believe that tax reductions on businesses and fewer regulations will lead to higher profits.

Gus Faucher is an economist with the bank PNC. He says investors are looking to tax cuts that will increase business profits, which is good for stock prices. That, he says, has lifted stock prices recently.

Investors will be disappointed, Faucher says, if Trump does not propose clear policies to increase growth. Still, he says the economic outlook is better than it was a few months ago.

Other economists say Trump’s positions on taxing imports and trade disputes present a risk to the world economy.

Trump already has rejected the Trans-Pacific Partnership¹² free trade agreement with 12 Pacific nations. He also has said he wants to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA. Critics of the deal say it has cost America jobs.

Mark Zandi, however, expressed concern that the U.S. is pulling back from the world economy, which has provided a lot for the American people.

“The United States is at the center of the global economy. It’s taken hundreds of millions of people out of poverty and brought them into the middle class. Think about Eastern Europe, think about China and Asia,” he said.

Americans, Zandi said, have been greatly helped by the less costly¹³ goods that result from free trade. And he warns, “If we pull back on globalization, the world suffers and we will also suffer.”

Republicans control both houses of Congress and the White House. Zandi expects that Congress will approve many of Trump’s policy proposals although the early days of the administration have been difficult.

Some economists, however, question whether conservative Republicans will approve tax cuts without knowing how they will be paid for.

Along with major tax cuts for businesses, Trump has proposed heavy spending on roads and other needed infrastructure¹⁴. But, he also has called for more border agents and a wall between the U.S and Mexico.

Words in This Story

consumer confidence – n. a measure of how people think the economy will perform in the future

tariff – n. a tax on products imported or exported from a country

optimistic – adj. believing the future will be good

outlook – n. The way that people think about something, often the future

globalization – n. a process making trade and other important activities easier to do internationally, the increasing integration of countries and markets

1 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

2 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。

3 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

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 precisely   

adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地

参考例句：

• It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
• The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。

7 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

8 enacted   

制定（法律），通过（法案）( enact的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• legislation enacted by parliament 由议会通过的法律
• Outside in the little lobby another scene was begin enacted. 外面的小休息室里又是另一番景象。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

9 tariff   

n.关税，税率；(旅馆、饭店等)价目表，收费表

参考例句：

• There is a very high tariff on jewelry.宝石类的关税率很高。
• The government is going to lower the tariff on importing cars.政府打算降低进口汽车的关税。

10 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。

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 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

13 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

14 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。