2021年经济学人 美财政部长称不提高债务上限的后果是灾难性的

The world this week - Business

本周国际要闻——商业

Janet Yellen, America’s treasury¹ secretary, gave her strongest warning yet on the potential consequences of not raising the federal debt limit, saying it would be “catastrophic”.

美国财政部长珍妮特·耶伦就不提高联邦债务上限的潜在后果发出了迄今为止最强烈的警告，称这将是“灾难性的”。

The Treasury estimates that it will run out of money by October 18th unless the ceiling is increased to allow the government to continue borrowing.

财政部估计，除非提高上限以允许政府继续借款，否则政府将在10月18日耗尽资金。

Even with a stopgap resolution to avoid a government shutdown, the issue of lifting the debt limit still remains².

即使有了避免政府停摆的临时解决方案，提高债务上限的问题仍然存在。

Ms Yellen said the uncertainty³ was eroding⁴ investor⁵ confidence.

耶伦表示，不确定性正在侵蚀投资者信心。

Stockmarkets had their worst day in months on September 28th.

9月28日，股市经历了几个月来最糟糕的一天。

The S&P 500 dropped by 2% and the Nasdaq by 2.8%, its biggest decline in half a year.

标准普尔500指数下跌了2%，纳斯达克指数下跌了2.8%，这是半年来的最大跌幅。

European and Asian bourses also fell.

欧洲和亚洲股市也纷纷下跌。

The prospect⁶ of a government shutdown was just one factor unsettling investors⁷.

政府停摆的预期只是令投资者不安的因素之一。

Markets are also digesting moves by central banks to taper⁸ their stimulus⁹ programmes, which has led to a sell-off in bonds.

市场也在消化各国央行缩减刺激计划的举措，这些举措已致使债券遭到抛售。

Natural-gas prices remained volatile¹⁰, but were still rising sharply in Asia and Europe, and to a lesser¹¹ degree in America.

天然气价格仍不稳定，但在亚洲和欧洲仍急剧上涨，美国的涨幅较小。

That fed into oil markets, as some industries switch to the commodity to keep the lights on.

随着一些行业转而使用石油（译者注：commodity直译为大宗货物，在这里指石油）以维持能源供应，石油市场也受到了影响。

The price of Brent crude crept up to $80 a barrel for the first time in three years.

布伦特原油价格三年来首次攀升至每桶80美元。

Battle lines were drawn¹² in the American Senate over a possible second term for Jerome Powell as chairman of the Federal Reserve.

美国参议院就杰罗姆·鲍威尔可能连任美联储主席一事展开了争论。

Elizabeth Warren, a left-wing Democrat¹³, became the first senator publicly to oppose Mr Powell remaining in office because of his past support for financial deregulation.

左翼民主党人伊丽莎白·沃伦成为首位公开反对鲍威尔留任的参议员，原因是他过去曾支持放松金融监管。

She called him “a dangerous man”.

她称鲍威尔是“一个危险的人”。

Joe Biden is expected to announce his decision on who should lead the central bank within the next few months.

乔·拜登预计将在未来几个月内宣布决定央行行长的人选。

Ford¹⁴ announced an $11bn plan to build three factories that will produce batteries for electric vehicles and another plant to make its F-series of electric pickup¹⁵ trucks.

福特宣布了一项110亿美元的计划，计划建设三家生产电动汽车电池的工厂，以及另一家生产F系列电动皮卡的工厂。

The investment is in partnership¹⁶ with SK Innovation, a South Korean company; the carmaker is providing $7bn.

这项投资是与韩国公司SK Innovation合作进行的；该汽车制造商将提供70亿美元资金。

Along with its Detroit rivals, General Motors and Stellantis, Ford has made a commitment to switch to greener motoring and wants 40% of its global sales to be electric by 2030.

与位于底特律的竞争对手通用汽车和斯特兰提斯一样，福特已经承诺转向生产更环保汽车，并希望到2030年其全球销售的40%来自电动汽车。

1 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

2 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

3 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。

4 eroding   

侵蚀，腐蚀( erode的现在分词 )； 逐渐毁坏，削弱，损害

参考例句：

• The coast is slowly eroding. 海岸正慢慢地被侵蚀。
• Another new development is eroding the age-old stereotype of the male warrior. 另一个新现象是，久已形成的男人皆武士的形象正逐渐消失。

5 investor   

n.投资者，投资人

参考例句：

• My nephew is a cautious investor.我侄子是个小心谨慎的投资者。
• The investor believes that his investment will pay off handsomely soon.这个投资者相信他的投资不久会有相当大的收益。

6 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

7 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

8 taper   

n.小蜡烛，尖细，渐弱；adj.尖细的；v.逐渐变小

参考例句：

• You'd better taper off the amount of time given to rest.你最好逐渐地减少休息时间。
• Pulmonary arteries taper towards periphery.肺动脉向周围逐渐变细。

9 stimulus   

n.刺激，刺激物，促进因素，引起兴奋的事物

参考例句：

• 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。

10 volatile   

adj.反复无常的，挥发性的，稍纵即逝的，脾气火爆的；n.挥发性物质

参考例句：

• With the markets being so volatile,investments are at great risk.由于市场那么变化不定，投资冒着很大的风险。
• His character was weak and volatile.他这个人意志薄弱，喜怒无常。

11 lesser   

adj.次要的，较小的；adv.较小地，较少地

参考例句：

• Kept some of the lesser players out.不让那些次要的球员参加联赛。
• She has also been affected,but to a lesser degree.她也受到波及，但程度较轻。

12 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

13 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

14 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。

15 pickup   

n.拾起，获得

参考例句：

• I would love to trade this car for a pickup truck.我愿意用这辆汽车换一辆小型轻便卡车。||The luck guy is a choice pickup for the girls.那位幸运的男孩是女孩子们想勾搭上的人。

16 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。