VOA标准英语2009年-Aid Agency Calls for New Global Economic A

By Selah Hennessy
London
30 September 2009

An International aid agency is calling for the World Bank to abandon old trade policies that it says harm the developing world. The British-based Christian¹ Aid says developing country governments must have more power to regulate their own economies.

 
Leftist union members and students shout slogans during a protest against the policies of the IMF and WB in Istanbul, Turkey, 30 Sep 2009
Christian Aid says the global financial crisis has shown world leaders need to rethink trade policies in the developing world.

In a report released in London, the group says for decades donor² governments, the World Bank, and the International Monetary³ Fund have forced free-market trade agreements on developing countries. But the report says liberalization, privatization, and deregulation are not always suited to developing economies.

Report author Matthew Coghlan says a new balance must be found between the market and the state. 

"The investment climate approach is based on the idea that foreign direct investment in particular can stimulate⁴ economic activity and trickle⁵ down to development and our concern with that approach and with the policy prescriptions⁶ that accompany it is that it focuses too much on market-based solutions," said Goghlan.

Coghlan says developing country governments must have the right to choose policies and introduce regulations that work best for their country. He says the private sector⁷ can play a major role in ending poverty around the world. But it must be regulated to ensure that markets function fairly.

"What we are interested in seeing in the future is private sector development strategies that include the poor, but also protect them," he said. "We think that corporate⁸ accountability needs to move beyond corporate social responsibility and voluntarism."

There are lessons to be learned from the global financial crisis, says Rodrigo Delgado Aguilera, from the London-based research group Chatham House.

He says the crisis has shown that the free market can leave developing economies especially weak during a financial downturn.

"Globalization has made the world more vulnerable," said Aguilera. "And unless you adequately provision yourself against shocks then [I am] not so sure that the fastest growth is going to be worth the extra crises."

He says world leaders have realized that governments must have a role in the economy and that not everything should be left to the market.

"There is still a strong push towards free-market open-economies, but there is also greater questioning on what are the adverse⁹ affects of having these policies," added Aguilera.

Aguilera says changes need to be made, but may not come easily. New trade agreements can take a long time to develop, and it is unclear how best they should be shaped.

Aguilera says giving more power to governments in some developing countries can be problematic.

"In most cases in these countries governments may be excessively corrupt¹⁰, may already have personal interests at stake," he said. "So it is really difficult to define the line of how far governments should have a role in these processes."

Leaders from the Group of 20 nations met in United States last week for talks on the financial crisis and economic recovery. Policymakers agreed to give emerging countries a greater say at the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, recognizing their rising influence in the global economy.

The IMF and World Bank will be holding a summit next week in Turkey to discuss, among other things, the state of the world economy.

1 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

2 donor   

n.捐献者；赠送人；(组织、器官等的)供体

参考例句：

• In these cases,the recipient usually takes care of the donor afterwards.在这类情况下，接受捐献者以后通常会照顾捐赠者。
• The Doctor transplanted the donor's heart to Mike's chest cavity.医生将捐赠者的心脏移植进麦克的胸腔。

3 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。

4 stimulate   

vt.刺激，使兴奋；激励，使…振奋

参考例句：

• Your encouragement will stimulate me to further efforts.你的鼓励会激发我进一步努力。
• Success will stimulate the people for fresh efforts.成功能鼓舞人们去作新的努力。

5 trickle   

vi.淌，滴，流出，慢慢移动，逐渐消散

参考例句：

• The stream has thinned down to a mere trickle.这条小河变成细流了。
• The flood of cars has now slowed to a trickle.汹涌的车流现在已经变得稀稀拉拉。

6 prescriptions   

药( prescription的名词复数 )； 处方； 开处方； 计划

参考例句：

• The hospital of traditional Chinese medicine installed a computer to fill prescriptions. 中医医院装上了电子计算机来抓药。
• Her main job was filling the doctor's prescriptions. 她的主要工作就是给大夫开的药方配药。

7 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

8 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

9 adverse   

adj.不利的；有害的；敌对的，不友好的

参考例句：

• He is adverse to going abroad.他反对出国。
• The improper use of medicine could lead to severe adverse reactions.用药不当会产生严重的不良反应。

10 corrupt   

v.贿赂，收买；adj.腐败的，贪污的

参考例句：

• The newspaper alleged the mayor's corrupt practices.那家报纸断言市长有舞弊行为。
• This judge is corrupt.这个法官贪污。