Slow and Steady Wins the Race!
ECONOMICS REPORT - Looking Back: Wall Street, a Year Later
2009 年 9 月 18 日 VOA 经济报道 – 回顾一年后的华尔街。
This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.
这里是 VOA 特别英语的经济报道
One year ago, the United States financial system was in danger of collapse. One of Wall Street's oldest investment houses had just sought protection from its creditors. The Lehman Brothers bankruptcy on September fifteenth was a shock to the system, but not the only one.
一年之前，美国金融体系处于崩溃的境地。华尔街最古老的商行之一 ( 雷曼兄弟 ) 刚刚寻求债权人的保护。雷曼兄弟在 9 月 15 日的破产震撼了金融体系，但并非唯一一家。
A week earlier, the government had seized Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. These companies help finance most American housing loans. And one day after Lehman's failure, the government decided that the huge insurer A.I.G. was too big to fail. The Federal Reserve rescued the American International Group with an eighty-five billion dollar loan.
一周之前，美国政府接管了房利美和房地美，这二家公司帮助大部分美国房产贷款的融资。并且，在雷曼兄弟破产一天之后，美国政府决定，大型保险公司 AIG( 美国国际集团 ) 太大，不能让其破产。美联储动用了 850 亿美元的贷款，援救 AIG 。
But soon, credit markets around the world slowed to a halt on fears about the health of banks. By early October, Congress passed the Troubled Asset Relief Program, a rescue plan for the financial system.
但不久，全球信贷市场因担心银行的健康而出现了停滞。到 10 月初，国会通过了金融体系救援计划 TARP( 问题资产救援计划 ) 。
Banks and other financial companies have received more than two hundred billion dollars. But ten banks agreed in June to repay almost seventy billion of that. And so far, the government has earned about four billion on its investments.
银行以及其它金融公司已经收到 2000 多亿美元。但是，十家银行在 6 月份同意，偿还大约其中的 700 亿美元。至今，美国政府因这一投资已经获利 400 亿美元左右。
But taxpayers still own almost eighty percent of A.I.G. They also hold big shares of Citigroup and a number of other banks, as well as sixty percent of General Motors.
但是，纳税人仍然拥有 AIG 的大约 80% 。他们也拥有花旗和许多其它银行的大量股份以及通用汽车的 60%( 股份 ) 。
On Monday, the anniversary of the Lehman collapse, President Obama renewed his call for reform of financial supervision. He said in a speech on Wall Street that some of the "old ways" that led to the crisis have already returned.
周一是雷曼兄弟破产的周年，总统奥巴马重申了金融监管改革的要求。他在华尔街的演讲中说，导致危机的某些“旧制”又回来了。
BARRACK OBAMA: "That's why we need strong rules of the road to guard against the kind of systemic risks we have seen. And we have a responsibility to write and enforce these rules to protect consumers of financial products, taxpayers, and our economy as a whole."
巴拉克 . 奥巴马：“这是我们需要严格监管法规的原因，以便防止我们所见到的系统性风险。并且，我们有责任，制定并实施这些法规，以保护金融产品的消费者、纳税人以及我们的整个经济。”
Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said Tuesday that the recession "is very likely over at this point." But he said the labor market could remain weak through next year.
美联储主席本 . 伯南克周四说，衰退“目前似乎已经结束”。但他说，病弱的劳动市场将持续到明年。
Next week, leaders of the world's largest economies will meet in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They will discuss economic policies and ways to strengthen financial regulation after the crisis. But the Group of Twenty summit also comes as the United States and China face a growing trade dispute.
下周，世界最大经济国家的领袖们将相会于宾夕法尼亚的匹兹堡。他们将讨论经济政策以及危机之后加强金融监管的措施。但是， G20 峰会也正是美中面临贸易争端升级之际。
Last week the Obama administration placed high import taxes on Chinese tires. The aim is to stop what American officials call a "harmful" increase in tire imports. China, in turn, said this week that it will investigate imports of American chicken products and auto parts. China also asked the World Trade Organization to intervene, to avoid a trade war.
上周，奥巴马政府对中国轮胎征收高额进口税。其目的是阻止美国官员所谓的轮胎进口的“危害”上升。结果，中国本周称将调查美国肉鸡产品及汽车配件的进口。中国也要求 WTO( 世界贸易组织 ) 的介入，以避免贸易战。
And that's the VOA Special English Economics Report, written by Mario Ritter. I'm Steve Ember.
这是由 Mario Ritter 编写的 VOA 特别英语经济报道。我是 Steve Ember 。
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该帖于2009年9月18日被版主推荐为精华帖。