VOA标准英语 Economists Complain About Big US Banks Receiving Tax
时间：2019-01-13 作者：英语课 分类：VOA标准英语2009年(四月)
Former International Monetary 1 Fund chief economist 2 Simon Johnson said Wednesday that the biggest U.S. banks are too powerful and exert too much influence over the government.
Johnson told an audience at Washington's School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) that the biggest American banks bear considerable blame for the on-going financial crisis in the United States and subsequent global recession. Saying they comprise a financial oligarchy 3, Johnson said the biggest banks should to be broken up into smaller parts.
He predicted that some major U.S. or European banks will fail. But he opposes nationalization, saying governments make bad managers and would impose a political agenda on the banks.
Now a professor at the business school at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Johnson voiced a similar view in responding to a caller on America's C-SPAN television last week.
"Why are your taxes going to go up? Why is the government having to take these measures [in rescuing the banks]? Because of the mistakes made by big business, these huge, huge mistakes [in taking too much risk]. Because they became far too big and powerful. And now they're trying to stick the rest of us [taxpayers] with the bill," he said.
Johnson said the financial services industry exerts its political power by contributing huge amounts of money to the electoral campaigns of members of the U.S. Congress. He said world economies are currently so weak that despite massive monetary and fiscal 4 stimulus 5, recovery is likely to be sluggish 6 and slow to begin.
Another economist, Financial Times financial commentator 7 Martin Wolf made a similar assesment about the power of the big banks. He told a Washington audience last week that the bailout of the banks is imposing 8 intolerable costs on U.S. and European governments.
"We can't go on living like this. It's intolerable. And that is really the background, I think, that we have to approach thinking about the future of the financial system. We shouldn't allow one sector 9 of the economy [the banks] to inflict 10 fiscal costs on economies that are comparable, of course not in terms of destruction, but in economic costs, are like having a significant war," he said.
The International Monetary Fund says the financial losses directly related to the banking 11 crisis are likely to approach $4 trillion.
The global crisis began in August 2007 with a credit squeeze associated with losses in the sub-prime U.S. mortgage market.
- 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。
- 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。
- The only secure basis for oligarchy is collectivism.寡头政体的唯一可靠基础是集体主义。
- Insecure and fearful of its own people,the oligarchy preserves itself through tyranny.由于担心和害怕自己的人民，统治集团只能靠实行暴政来维护其统治。
- The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。
- The government has two basic strategies of fiscal policy available.政府有两个可行的财政政策基本战略。
- 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。
- This humid heat makes you feel rather sluggish.这种湿热的天气使人感到懒洋洋的。
- Circulation is much more sluggish in the feet than in the hands.脚部的循环比手部的循环缓慢得多。
- He is a good commentator because he can get across the game.他能简单地解说这场比赛，是个好的解说者。
- The commentator made a big mistake during the live broadcast.在直播节目中评论员犯了个大错误。
- The fortress is an imposing building.这座城堡是一座宏伟的建筑。
- He has lost his imposing appearance.他已失去堂堂仪表。
- 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。
- Don't inflict your ideas on me.不要把你的想法强加于我。
- Don't inflict damage on any person.不要伤害任何人。