VOA标准英语2008年-Major Central Banks Attempt to Reassure Global

（单词翻译）

Central banks of the leading industrialized nations are working together to try to ease a financial crisis that originated in the United States but has roiled¹ markets worldwide. From Washington, VOA's Michael Bowman reports.
　
A Wall Street street sign is seen near the New York Stock Exchange in New York, 15 Sept 2008

Amid widespread fears that the cascading² failure of many of America's largest and best-known financial institutions could severely³ restrict the availability of credit worldwide, major central banks are acting⁴ in concert to dampen economic shockwaves that have spread from the United States to Europe, Asia, and elsewhere.

The U.S. Federal Reserve, along with central banks in Canada, the European Union and Asia, have pumped at least $200 billion into financial markets. The action helped boost European stock markets after several days of heavy losses, although trading was again suspended in Russia, and Asian markets closed lower.
　
President George W. Bush at the White House, 17 Sep 2008

At the White House, President Bush took note of the central bank action. In a brief statement before meeting with top economic advisors⁵, a stern-faced Mr. Bush noted⁶ a series of aggressive steps taken by the U.S. government in recent weeks - from bailing⁷ out ailing⁸ investment and insurance firms, and taking over failing U.S. mortgage giants to cracking down on market manipulators.

"These actions are necessary, and they are important," President Bush said. "And the markets are adjusting to them. Our financial markets continue to deal with serious challenges. As our recent actions demonstrate, my administration is focused on meeting these challenges. The American people can be sure we will continue to act to strengthen and stabilize⁹ our financial markets and improve investor¹⁰ confidence."

Recent financial upheaval¹¹ is having a negative effect on the U.S. stock market as a whole, including the stocks of many otherwise-healthy companies, according to Eugene Peroni, a market strategist for the financial services firm Advisors Asset Management.

"The market might be overshooting here at bit [overreacting to negative news]," he said. "In other words, yes there are some companies that are really in trouble, but there are some companies that are simply being dragged down in this [market] rout¹²."

And the string of large financial firm collapses¹³ may not be over. A major U.S. thrift¹⁴ bank, Washington Mutual¹⁵, is reportedly teetering on the edge of insolvency¹⁶. News reports of panic among some depositors led the Chairwoman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Sheila Bair, to remind the public that their bank accounts are secure.

"If you stay within our coverage¹⁷ limits, your money is absolutely safe," said Sheila Bair. "And, yes, that guarantee has been good for 75 years and will continue to be so. Nobody has ever lost a penny of FDIC-insured deposits."

What few economists¹⁸ or market prognosticators seem to be able to predict is when the financial crisis will end. Earlier this week, Treasury¹⁹ Secretary Henry Paulson said uncertainty²⁰ will prevail as long as the U.S. housing sector²¹ remains²² beset²³ with falling home values and foreclosures.
　
A sale sign sits in front of a home in the Shaker Heights section of Cleveland, Ohio (File)

"Until we stem the housing correction, until the biggest part of that is behind us and we have more stability in housing prices, we are going to continue to have turmoil²⁴ in the financial markets," Paulson said.

For more than a year, the U.S. housing sector has been stung by a rash of foreclosures, principally among those who acquired mortgages to buy homes despite poor credit ratings. Those so-called "sub-prime mortgages" are no longer being offered by major financial institutions, and leaders in both major U.S. political parties seem to agree on the need for establishing stricter lending standards to ensure that there is no repeat of the financial debacle.