Europe’s Economic Struggles Continue Despite Greek Deal

 　　Europe is continuing to struggle with its financial crisis, which is threatening to result in a prolonged period of slow or negative growth and more economic fallout for the rest of the world.

　　Just as Greece appears close to resolving its domestic political dispute and accepting a financial rescue package from the European Union, Italy is edging closer to an economic crisis of its own.

　　Italy’s large debt and concerns about the stability of its government drove up the interest rate on its bonds to more than 6.5 pecent.  That makes it more difficult for the Italian government to borrow money to finance its operations and make payments on its debt.  Experts say a rate of 7 percent would be more than the country could afford and could trigger the need for a bailout by its European Union partners.

　　The problem is, experts say Italy is too big to bail¹ out.

　　The chief economist² at London’s Centre for European Reform, Simon Tilford, says the European Central Bank must step in - something its top officials are reluctant to do.

　　“The problem at the moment is that we’re in a period of exceptionally weak economic growth.  We’re going through unprecedented³ economic weakness.  And that, I think, requires unorthodox action on the part of central banks,” said Tilford.

　　Tilford says if the central bank buys some Italian bonds, it will give other investors⁴ the confidence to do the same, and at affordable⁵ interest rates.  He believes that is a more practical and effective approach to the troubled European economies, arguing that austerity packages like the one being forced on Greece will not actually solve the problem.

　　“The budget cuts they’ve been asked to make are unfeasible," said Tilford. "If they do attempt to push them through, all they’re going to do is compound the weaknesses.  The current policy response guarantees just almost indefinite stagnation⁶, recession in the Greek economy and ongoing⁷ debt servicing problems.”

　　Research fellow Benedicta Marzinotto at the Bruegel Institute in Brussels agrees that a bailout based on austerity alone may not be the way to solve Greece’s problems, or Europe’s.

　　“I’m not sure if they are the right way to go.  Some austerity is needed.  I believe it should be complemented⁸ with other measure, such as growth-enhancing measures,” said Marzinotto.

　　Meanwhile, other European countries, notably⁹ Portugal and Ireland, are also implementing¹⁰ restructuring plans, and Spain is working to reassure¹¹ investors that it is a reliable place to put their money.

1 bail   

v.舀（水），保释；n.保证金，保释，保释人

参考例句：

• One of the prisoner's friends offered to bail him out.犯人的一个朋友答应保释他出来。
• She has been granted conditional bail.她被准予有条件保释。

2 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• 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。

3 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

4 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

5 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
• There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。

6 stagnation   

n. 停滞

参考例句：

• Poor economic policies led to a long period of stagnation and decline. 糟糕的经济政策道致了长时间的经济萧条和下滑。
• Motion is absolute while stagnation is relative. 运动是绝对的，而静止是相对的。

7 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

8 complemented   

有补助物的，有余格的

参考例句：

• The excellent menu is complemented by a good wine list. 佳肴佐以美酒，可称完美无缺。
• In vitro analysis must be complemented by studies of the virus replication cycle in plants. 体外的分析必须辅之以植物体内病毒复制周期的研究。

9 notably   

adv.值得注意地，显著地，尤其地，特别地

参考例句：

• Many students were absent,notably the monitor.许多学生缺席，特别是连班长也没来。
• A notably short,silver-haired man,he plays basketball with his staff several times a week.他个子明显较为矮小，一头银发，每周都会和他的员工一起打几次篮球。

10 implementing   

v.实现( implement的现在分词 )；执行；贯彻；使生效

参考例句：

• -- Implementing a comprehensive drug control strategy. ――实行综合治理的禁毒战略。 来自汉英非文学 - 白皮书
• He was in no hurry about implementing his unshakable principle. 他并不急于实行他那不可动摇的原则。 来自辞典例句

11 reassure   

v.使放心，使消除疑虑

参考例句：

• This seemed to reassure him and he continued more confidently.这似乎使他放心一点，于是他更有信心地继续说了下去。
• The airline tried to reassure the customers that the planes were safe.航空公司尽力让乘客相信飞机是安全的。