美国国家公共电台 NPR--The Federal Reserve rolls out a plan that gives banks a new way to borrow money

The Federal Reserve rolls out a plan that gives banks a new way to borrow money

Transcript¹

After last month's collapse² of Silicon³ Valley Bank, the Federal Reserve set up a new loan program to help struggling banks. But the program could potentially put taxpayers⁴ at risk.

A MART?NEZ, HOST:

After last month's collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, the Federal Reserve created a new way for troubled banks to borrow money. It's called the Bank Term Funding Program. Darian Woods and Mary Childs from our daily economics podcast, The Indicator⁵, explain what it is and the risks that come with it.

DARIAN WOODS, BYLINE⁶: The Fed is the bank for banks. That's why it will lend to banks in a panic when nobody else will. There is one way that it usually does this, called the discount window. And what's key to the discount window is collateral⁷.

MARY CHILDS, BYLINE: So you can think of the discount window as kind of like a very nice pawnshop that lends to you in hard times. You know, you go and give it some collateral like some nice gold rings from your grandmother. The pawnshop gives you the cash - you know, not quite as much as those gold rings are worth on the market. There will be a discount. But you get the cash, and so you can, you know, as a bank, go meet withdrawals⁸. But if the bank fails, the Fed, the pawnshop, has those gold rings and can go sell those and get its money back. And in this case, that would be things like Treasury⁹ bonds - you know, other government bonds, very high-quality corporate¹⁰ bonds. And the Fed can sell those bonds and recoup its money.

WOODS: Right. So let's go through what's different about the Bank Term Funding Program.

CHILDS: The big thing is that it values your collateral differently. Instead of valuing your gold rings at the market price - instead, this program essentially¹¹ values them at what you paid for them. So let's do a simple example. Darian, you're the bank, and I get to be the Fed. And you're having a bad day, so I need you to bring collateral to me. OK?

WOODS: OK. So I've got these bonds, you know, and they promise to pay $100.

CHILDS: That's great. But in the years since you bought those bonds, interest rates have gone up. They are actually only worth $80 now.

WOODS: That's kind of unfortunate, but OK.

CHILDS: But I, the Fed - I will take your bond, which is worth $80 in the market, and I will lend you $100 because, you know, in 10 years that bond is going to pay $100. What do I care? I will still charge you some interest, but it will be small, just like with the discount window offer. Don't worry.

WOODS: OK. This is kind of a wildly different deal than the Fed normally makes, according to Amiyatosh Purnanandam. He is a professor of finance at the University of Michigan.

AMIYATOSH PURNANANDAM: I think this is one of the first times the Fed has come up with a program that is effectively a little bit unsecured.

WOODS: As in not covered. The Fed is exposed if I, the bank, default and I can't pay them back the money. The Fed could sell that bond and be down 20 bucks¹² just because the market value right now is just 80. Or, you know, they could hold on to it until it matures if they really wanted to get that $400 back.

PURNANANDAM: But still, that doesn't make it whole to the taxpayers because there is an opportunity cost.

CHILDS: An opportunity cost, because the true cost of anything really isn't just what you pay and how much it pays out in the end. You also need to think about what else you could be doing with that money.

WOODS: Like, for example, if you're the government, you could have - I don't know - lowered taxes, or you could have spent it on education or highway maintenance - things that potentially had a better return on investment.

CHILDS: And maybe this was the right move for the Fed. Maybe the usual Fed tools wouldn't have worked to calm the markets after Silicon Valley Bank's collapse. But it is worth pointing out that this new banking¹³ Band-Aid has a new structure and a new kind of cost and risk.

Mary Childs.

WOODS: Darian Woods, NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF ORBA SQUARA SONG, "SKY CLOUD WINTER BREEZE")

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

3 silicon   

n.硅(旧名矽)

参考例句：

• This company pioneered the use of silicon chip.这家公司开创了使用硅片的方法。
• A chip is a piece of silicon about the size of a postage stamp.芯片就是一枚邮票大小的硅片。

4 taxpayers   

纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
• She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。

5 indicator   

n.指标；指示物，指示者；指示器

参考例句：

• Gold prices are often seen as an indicator of inflation.黃金价格常常被看作是通货膨胀的指标。
• His left-hand indicator is flashing.他左手边的转向灯正在闪亮。

6 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

7 collateral   

adj.平行的；旁系的；n.担保品

参考例句：

• Many people use personal assets as collateral for small business loans.很多人把个人财产用作小额商业贷款的抵押品。
• Most people here cannot borrow from banks because they lack collateral.由于拿不出东西作为抵押，这里大部分人无法从银行贷款。

8 withdrawals   

n.收回，取回，撤回( withdrawal的名词复数 )；撤退，撤走；收回[取回，撤回，撤退，撤走]的实例；推出（组织），提走（存款），戒除毒瘾，对说过的话收回，孤僻

参考例句：

• He has made several withdrawals from his bank account. 他从银行账户上提了几次款。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• It is not the bank's policy to deduct interest on withdrawals. 提款需扣除利息这并非是本银行的政策。 来自辞典例句

9 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。

10 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

11 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

12 bucks   

n.雄鹿( buck的名词复数 )；钱；（英国十九世纪初的）花花公子；（用于某些表达方式）责任v.（马等）猛然弓背跃起( buck的第三人称单数 )；抵制；猛然震荡；马等尥起后蹄跳跃

参考例句：

• They cost ten bucks. 这些值十元钱。
• They are hunting for bucks. 他们正在猎雄兔。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 banking   

n.银行业，银行学，金融业

参考例句：

• John is launching his son on a career in banking.约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。
• He possesses an extensive knowledge of banking.他具有广博的银行业务知识。