VOA标准英语2009年-World's Economic Leaders Try to Fix Financ

By Jim Randle
Pittsburgh
25 September 2009

The leaders of the world's wealthiest nations and key emerging economies are in Pittsburgh, assessing efforts to fight the recession, and seeking ways to prevent future financial problems. A key U.S. official says the G20 leaders are close to a consensus¹ on the crucial task of reforming financial regulations.

 
Timothy Geithner briefs reports before the start of the the G20 summit, in Pittsburgh, 24 Sep 2009
U.S. Treasury² Secretary Timothy Geithner says it is urgent to fix the flawed financial system while the pain of the down turn is still fresh in everyone's mind.

"We are not going to walk away from the greatest economic crisis since the great depression and leave unchanged, leave in place the tragic³ vulnerabilities that caused this crisis," he said.

Geithner told journalists that the progress on financial reform includes the contentious⁴ issue of the huge bonuses paid to bankers.

German and French officials argue these bonuses prompted bankers to take reckless risks in pursuit of short-term profits. Those profits turned to massive losses in some cases, threatening to bring down the financial system.

Leslie Gelb of the Council on Foreign Relations says public anger at the bankers strengthens the hand of those arguing for tougher regulation.

"The recent experience with financial greed and irresponsibility will push the center of gravity in this debate more toward regulation," said Gelb. "The fact is that regulators should have caught what these banks were doing."

But U.S. officials say a better way to prevent economic problems is to require banks to keep larger reserves to cover losses from bad loans or failed investments.

The secretary-general of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Angel Gurria, agrees.

"Strengthening the banks capital," said Gurria. "The story of the banks is capital, capital, capital, that is the big solution."

Besides strengthening banks and regulation, many G20 nations have been trying to strengthen their economies by spending huge sums building roads, bridges and other public works projects. They also slashed⁵ interest rates to historic lows.

At the Pittsburgh meeting, leaders are trying to figure out when they should cut back these stimulus⁶ efforts.

The head of the International Monetary⁷ Fund Dominique Strauss-Kahn, says not quite yet. "It is not the time for advanced economies to organize an exit strategy. We have to think about it, but not implement⁸ it now," he said.

Economists⁹ say if the stimulus programs end too soon the economy could relapse into recession. But if these expensive public works programs go on too long, they push nations deeper into debt, while low interest rates eventually raise the risk of inflation.

Large trade imbalances are another issue under discussion here.

China for example sells more than it buys on international markets, while the United States is in the opposite position, running up a huge trade deficit¹⁰.

Some economists say this is one of the economic imbalances that contributed to the recession.

Secretary Geithner says the recession is forcing American consumers to cut their spending.

"For too long, Americans were buying too much, and saving too little … that is no longer an option for us or for the rest of the world," he said.

Geithner says major exporters will have to look elsewhere for markets for their products, perhaps boosting demand in their own nations.

1 consensus   

n.(意见等的)一致，一致同意，共识

参考例句：

• Can we reach a consensus on this issue?我们能在这个问题上取得一致意见吗？
• What is the consensus of opinion at the afternoon meeting?下午会议上一致的意见是什么？

2 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

3 tragic   

adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的

参考例句：

• The effect of the pollution on the beaches is absolutely tragic.污染海滩后果可悲。
• Charles was a man doomed to tragic issues.查理是个注定不得善终的人。

4 contentious   

adj.好辩的，善争吵的

参考例句：

• She was really not of the contentious fighting sort.她委实不是好吵好闹的人。
• Since then they have tended to steer clear of contentious issues.从那时起，他们总想方设法避开有争议的问题。

5 slashed   

v.挥砍( slash的过去式和过去分词 )；鞭打；割破；削减

参考例句：

• Someone had slashed the tyres on my car. 有人把我的汽车轮胎割破了。
• He slashed the bark off the tree with his knife. 他用刀把树皮从树上砍下。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 stimulus   

n.刺激，刺激物，促进因素，引起兴奋的事物

参考例句：

• Regard each failure as a stimulus to further efforts.把每次失利看成对进一步努力的激励。
• Light is a stimulus to growth in plants.光是促进植物生长的一个因素。

7 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。

8 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。

9 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》

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。