VOA双语新闻:8、美国经济面临又一财政悬崖
时间:2018-12-19 作者:英语课 分类:VOA双语新闻 2013年1月
美国经济面临又一财政悬崖
The U.S. may have avoided the fiscal 1 cliff, but analysts 2 say the last minute Congressional agreement at the start of the year to raise taxes on wealthy Americans and avoid massive spending cuts was only a temporary fix. Now, even as President Barack Obama begins his second term, another financial crisis is looming 3 - one with potentially severe implications for the world's largest economy.
美国可能避免了上次财政悬崖,但是分析家说,国会今年初达成的向富人增税,避免大幅度裁减开支的协议只能暂时解决问题。现在,奥巴马总统开始了他的第二个任期,又一个财政危机正在悄悄降临,这个危机可能会对美国这个世界上最大的经济体带来严重影响。
The U.S. government has already reached the congressionaly imposed borrowing limit of $16.4 trillion and could run out of money by mid-February.
美国政府债务已经达到了国会设定的16万4千亿美元的债务上限,可能会在2月中出现无以支付账单问题。
New York trader Benedict Willis says the coming debate over raising the debt ceiling could be even more acrimonious 4.
纽约证交所的交易员本尼迪克特?威利斯说,即将展开的提高债务上限的争论可能会更加激烈。
"Now we'll go from the talk of fiscal cliff, I'm sure we'll start talking about the St. Valentine's Day massacre 5 because that's really the deadline we'll be looking at as far as the deficit 6 reduction and the debt ceiling talks are concerned," Willis said.
本尼迪克特?威利斯是纽约证交所的交易员。他说:“现在我们不会再讨论财政悬崖了,要讨论的是情人节大屠杀,因为那天将是我们决定如何减少赤字和解决债务上限问题的最后期限。”
Republican House Speaker John Boehner is demanding major spending cuts in exchange for any agreement to raise the debt limit.
国会众议院议长共和党人贝纳要求大幅度减少开支,以换取任何提高债务上限的协议。
But President Barack Obama calls that - irresponsible.
可是奥巴马总统说,那是不负责任的做法。
"If congressional Republicans refuse to pay America's bills on time, Social Security checks and veteran's benefits will be delayed. We might not be able to pay our troops or honor our contracts with small business owners," Obama said.
他说:“如果国会共和党人届时拒绝提高美国的债务上限,就会推迟发放社保支票和退伍军人福利,我们就可能无法支付我们军人的薪水,无法履行跟小企业签订的合同。”
The government would be unable to pay the interest on its debts -- creating massive turmoil 7 in world markets.
美国政府如果无法支付债务利息,可能给全球市场带来巨大动乱。
But analysts say the damage is already done.
可是分析家说,影响已经造成了。
"If you're a business and you are about to hire 100 new employees but are not sure what is going to happen with the debt ceiling, you're going to wait until the situation has passed. So as Congress is bickering 8, it's really kind of like pulling back the reins 9 on the horse and not letting the horse run," said financial adviser 10 Frank Reilly.
财政顾问弗兰克?赖利通过SKYPE接受美国之音采访时说:“如果你是商人,你可能需要雇佣100个新员工,可是却不知道新的债务上限会带来什么改变,你就会等到局势明朗后再说。所以国会争吵时,就像勒住马的缰绳,不让马跑。”
The last budget battle in 2011 resulted in the first credit downgrade of U.S. debt.
2011年的预算争执导致美国债务信用评级被首次降低。
Although investors 11 continued to buy U.S. bonds, Marc Goldwein at the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget says another downgrade could damage U.S. credibility.
虽然投资者还在继续购买美国债券,可是专家说,美国再次被降级就会损坏信用。马克?戈德文是【支持负责任的联邦预算委员会】的研究员。
"A downgrade from 'Triple A' to 'Double A' by itself doesn't usually have that much of an effect. It's basically saying instead of your bonds being really good, it's very good. That's basically how they qualify it. The danger is - what about the next downgrade, and the next one?," Goldwein said.
他说:“从3A降级到2A本身通常没有很大的影响,因为这基本上是说,你的债券过去是极好,现在是很好。这就是他们的评级条件。危险的是,一降再降怎么办?”
House Speaker John Boehner admits the consequences of not increasing the debt limit are real, but he says - so too are the consequences of allowing the country's spending to go unchecked.
国会众议院议长贝纳承认,不提高债务上限的后果很现实,可是他说,国家开支不受约束的后果也同样现实。
- 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。
- City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
- I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。
- The foothills were looming ahead through the haze. 丘陵地带透过薄雾朦胧地出现在眼前。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- Then they looked up. Looming above them was Mount Proteome. 接着他们往上看,在其上隐约看到的是蛋白质组山。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 回顾与展望
- He had an acrimonious quarrel with his girlfriend yesterday.昨天他跟他的女朋友激烈争吵了一番。
- His parents went through an acrimonious divorce.他的父母在激烈吵吵闹闹中离了婚。
- There was a terrible massacre of villagers here during the war.在战争中,这里的村民惨遭屠杀。
- If we forget the massacre,the massacre will happen again!忘记了大屠杀,大屠杀就有可能再次发生!
- 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。
- His mind was in such a turmoil that he couldn't get to sleep.内心的纷扰使他无法入睡。
- The robbery put the village in a turmoil.抢劫使全村陷入混乱。
- The children are always bickering about something or other. 孩子们有事没事总是在争吵。
- The two children were always bickering with each other over small matters. 这两个孩子总是为些小事斗嘴。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
- She pulled gently on the reins. 她轻轻地拉着缰绳。
- The government has imposed strict reins on the import of luxury goods. 政府对奢侈品的进口有严格的控制手段。