美国国家公共电台 NPR 特朗普寻求8500亿美元刺激计划 以缓解新冠疫情的经济影响

President Trump's administration is proposing an $850 billion stimulus¹ package to help businesses and individuals cope with the abrupt² slowdown in the U.S. economy from the coronavirus and the related shutdowns. Eight-hundred-fifty billion dollars — that's the scale of bailouts during the financial crisis more than a decade ago.

特朗普总统领导的政府提出一项8500亿美元的经济刺激方案，以帮助企业和个人应对冠状病毒及相关停业所引发的美国经济突然放缓。8500亿美元，这是10多年前金融危机期间的救助规模。

NPR's Scott Horsley covered that crisis, is here for this crisis. Scott, good morning.

NPR新闻的斯科特·霍斯利曾报道那场危机，现在他将为我们报道这场新危机。斯科特，早上好。

SCOTT HORSLEY, BYLINE³: Good morning, Steve.

斯科特·霍斯利连线：早上好，史蒂夫。

INSKEEP: Sounds like the White House agrees that the economy needs a lot of help.

因斯基普：听起来白宫同意经济需要很多帮助。

HORSLEY: It seems so. The Federal Reserve did its part over the weekend, slashing⁴ interest rates to zero, pumping hundreds of billions of dollars into the banking⁵ system to keep credit flowing. But even as the central bank took that action, Chairman Jerome Powell said there was a need for Congress and the administration to do more.

霍斯利：似乎是这样。上周末，美联储履行了自己的职责——将利率降至零，为银行系统注入数千亿美元，以保持信贷流动。但即使央行采取了这些举措，主席杰罗姆·鲍威尔依然表示，国会和政府有必要采取更多行动。

As late as yesterday, White House economic adviser⁶ Larry Kudlow seemed to be downplaying that need. He was telling reporters that, look, Congress has already done a lot. But we've got economic warning sirens going off all around us, and it does seem as if the administration is now ready to push for more aggressive measures to help the economy, just as it's begun to do on the public health front.

就在昨天，白宫经济顾问拉里·库德洛似乎还在淡化这种必要。他对记者表示，看，国会已经采取了很多措施。但我们周围响起了很多经济警报，看起来政府现在已经准备好推行更多激进措施来帮助经济，就像其开始在公共卫生领域做的那样。

INSKEEP: Yeah. The administration's earlier message — the president's earlier message, especially — was this will pass; it's temporary; we have a fundamentally strong economy. Now it's seeming less and less temporary. So what is the administration proposing to do?

因斯基普：好。政府早前的信息——特别是总统早前传递的信息——是这将过去；这是暂时的；我们拥有根基强壮的经济。现在，这似乎越来越不能说是暂时的情况。那政府打算采取什么措施？

HORSLEY: We don't know all of the details. Treasury⁷ Secretary Steve Mnuchin is expected to brief Republican senators later today. We understand that the package does include the $50 billion in aid that airlines have been asking for. Obviously, airlines have taken a beating during this crisis. But the package is also expected to include some help for struggling workers, and that could take a number of forms.

霍斯利：目前我们并不清楚所有细节。预计美国财政部长史蒂文·姆努钦将于今天晚些时候向共和党参议员通报情况。我们了解到，这份方案确实包括航空公司一直要求的500亿美元援助。显然，航空公司在这场危机中受到了重创。预计该方案还将涵盖为陷入困境的工人提供的一些帮助，这可能采用多种形式。

Up until now, the president and his administration have been pressing for a payroll⁸ tax cut. The problem with that is it does nothing to help people who are suddenly not on the payroll because their employer has closed its doors.

到目前为止，总统及其领导的政府一直在敦促削减工资税。但问题是，这对那些突然失去工资的人毫无帮助，因为他们的雇主已经关门停业。

INSKEEP: Yeah.

因斯基普：好。

HORSLEY: A payroll tax doesn't help tipped workers, who have taken a beating in this mess. And it's also regressive. It gives more money to higher wage earners. There are alternative proposals out there. Republican Senator Mitch — Mitt⁹ Romney of Utah has suggested just sending $1,000 to every American. Democratic senators have their own stimulus plan.

霍斯利：工资税不能帮助在这场混乱中遭受打击的小费工人。而且这也是一种退步。这会增加高收入人群的收入。现在也有一些替代方案。犹他州共和党参议员米特·罗姆尼建议给每名美国人发1000美元。民主党参议员则提出了本方的刺激计划。

Mnuchin did say over the weekend that the president's open to other ideas for distributing this kind of mass assistance. But the White House still seems to be sticking with the payroll tax cut even though that idea has gotten little support on Capitol Hill.

姆努钦上周末曾表示，总统对分配这种大规模救助的其他想法持开放态度。但白宫似乎仍坚持削减工资税，尽管这个想法在国会几乎未得到支持。

INSKEEP: Is — are the financial markets any more enthused about this than they have about any other administration proposals?

因斯基普：相比于其他政府提案，金融市场对这份提案的热情是否更高？

HORSLEY: U.S. stocks open up this morning. The Dow jumped more than 400 points right at the get-go, about 2%. That rally fizzled pretty quickly. Right now the markets are roughly flat — flat to up and down. Flat's a relief after yesterday, though...

霍斯利：美国股市今早开盘。道琼斯指数开盘即大跌400余点，跌幅约为2%。那次恢复很快就失败了。目前股市基本持平，也有动荡。不过，昨天之后，持平已经令人松了一口气……

INSKEEP: (Laughter) Yeah.

因斯基普：（笑）好。

HORSLEY: ...When the stock market had one of its worst days in history. Yesterday, the Dow plunged¹⁰ almost 3,000 points, the biggest point drop ever, the second-biggest percentage drop ever. So far this morning, trading at least has gone smoothly¹¹. We have not had to see the kind of temporary halt to trading to let investors¹² catch their breath that we saw yesterday.

霍斯利：昨天是史上股市最糟糕的一天。昨天，道指暴跌近3000点，创史上最大下跌点数，第二大跌幅。截至今天早上，交易还算进展顺利。我们并未看到像昨天那样令交易者喘不了气的暂停交易。

INSKEEP: Scott, I'm curious if anybody's talking, too, directly about small business owners who maybe don't have a lot of cushion. The payroll tax may not too directly help them. They're not going to get much from the airline bailout. Is there anything in there for those kinds of people who are desperately¹³ trying to stay open now or closing now?

因斯基普：斯科特，我想知道，是否有人也在直接谈论那些可能没有太多缓冲的小企业主。工资税也许不能直接帮助他们。他们不会从航空公司的救助中获得太多。那有没有这些急于继续营业或已经停业的企业主可以得到的援助？

HORSLEY: There certainly seems to be an awareness¹⁴ that those small business owners are maybe among the most vulnerable in this situation. We don't know what form that relief might take. But certainly, there is an awareness that the mom-and-pops are in need of some help here.

霍斯利：显然，人们似乎已经意识到，这些小企业主可能是最易受这种情况影响的人。我们不知道救济会采取什么形式。但显然，人们意识到，夫妻店需要帮助。

INSKEEP: OK. There will be much more to report through the day as we learn more details of the president's proposed $850billion stimulus package, not to mention counterproposals from Republicans and Democrats¹⁵ on Capitol Hill. And NPR chief economics correspondent Scott Horsley will be with us throughout all of it.

因斯基普：好。今天还会进行更多报道，因为我们会了解总统提出的8500亿美元刺激方案的更多细节，更不用说国会山共和党和民主党提出的反提案了。NPR新闻的首席经济记者斯科特·霍斯利将全程报道相关消息

Scott, thanks so much.

斯科特，非常谢谢你。

HORSLEY: Good to be with you, Steve.

霍斯利：不客气，史蒂夫。

1 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。

2 abrupt   

adj.突然的，意外的；唐突的，鲁莽的

参考例句：

• The river takes an abrupt bend to the west.这河突然向西转弯。
• His abrupt reply hurt our feelings.他粗鲁的回答伤了我们的感情。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 slashing   

adj.尖锐的；苛刻的；鲜明的；乱砍的v.挥砍( slash的现在分词 )；鞭打；割破；削减

参考例句：

• Slashing is the first process in which liquid treatment is involved. 浆纱是液处理的第一过程。 来自辞典例句
• He stopped slashing his horse. 他住了手，不去鞭打他的马了。 来自辞典例句

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 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

7 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。

8 payroll   

n.工资表，在职人员名单，工薪总额

参考例句：

• His yearly payroll is $1.2 million.他的年薪是120万美元。
• I can't wait to get my payroll check.我真等不及拿到我的工资单了。

9 mitt   

n.棒球手套，拳击手套，无指手套；vt.铐住，握手

参考例句：

• I gave him a baseball mitt for his birthday.为祝贺他的生日，我送给他一只棒球手套。
• Tom squeezed a mitt and a glove into the bag.汤姆把棒球手套和手套都塞进袋子里。

10 plunged   

v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降

参考例句：

• The train derailed and plunged into the river. 火车脱轨栽进了河里。
• She lost her balance and plunged 100 feet to her death. 她没有站稳，从100英尺的高处跌下摔死了。

11 smoothly   

adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地

参考例句：

• The workmen are very cooperative,so the work goes on smoothly.工人们十分合作，所以工作进展顺利。
• Just change one or two words and the sentence will read smoothly.这句话只要动一两个字就顺了。

12 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

13 desperately   

adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地

参考例句：

• He was desperately seeking a way to see her again.他正拼命想办法再见她一面。
• He longed desperately to be back at home.他非常渴望回家。

14 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

15 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》