格林斯潘表示高额油价对世界经济是个负担

Greenspan: High Oil Prices a Burden on

World Economy

格林斯潘表示高额油价对世界经济是个负担

 

The U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman says higher oil prices will slow world markets. But the U.S central bank chief told business leaders in Tokyo that the damage will not be as severe as that seen when energy costs surged in the 1970s.

 

Alan Greenspan is warning Tuesday that high oil prices will be a burden on the global economy for some time.

 

Alan Greenspan: Although the global economic expansion appears to have been on a reasonably firm path through the summer months, the recent surge in energy prices will undoubtedly¹ be a drag from now on. In the United States, Japan and elsewhere, the effect on growth would have been greater had oil not declined in importance as an input² to world economic activity since the 1970s.

 

In a speech in Tokyo, the U.S. Federal Reserve chairman also said that, with tight world markets and high demand, the shutdown of oil platforms and refineries³ last month by hurricanes in the United States was "an accident waiting to happen." He said that even before the hurricanes, the world oil market had become strained to a degree not experienced for more than a generation.

 

Yet Mr. Greenspan said, because of increased energy efficiency, the damage will be less serious than it might have been. In fact, since prices originally surged in the 1970s, oil's role as a factor in global gross domestic product has fallen by one-third, and by one half in the United States.

 

He praised the improvement seen in Japan, which has rapidly shifted to other energy sources and improved efficiency.

 

Alan Greenspan: Subsequently, shocked by the increase in prices and without indigenous⁴ production to cushion the effect on incomes, Japan sharply curtailed⁶ the growth of its oil use, reducing the ratio of oil consumption to GDP by about half as well.

 

Still Mr. Greenspan is troubled by constraints⁷ in refining capacity.

 

Alan Greenspan: Besides feared shortfalls in crude oil capacity, the status of world refining has become worrisome as well. Crude oil production has been rising faster than refining capacity over the past decade.

 

Mr. Greenspan concluded the speech to visit later by saying markets will have to be innovative⁸ in developing new approaches to energy production.

 

And if history is any guide, he said, less costly⁹ energy sources will replace oil long before reserves run out. As an example, he mentioned how oil displaced coal as the preferred fuel while there were still large untapped reserves of coal. However he cautioned the transition to new fuels would take time.

 

Catherine Makino for VOA news, Tokyo.

 

注释：

shutdown [5FQtdaun] n. 关门，停工

indigenous [in5didVinEs] adj. 本土的

cushion [5kuFEn] v. 减轻，缓冲

curtail⁵ [kE:5teil] vt. 缩减，减少

shortfall [5FC:tfC:l] n. 不足，不足量

worrisome [5wQrisEm] adj. 令人不安的

1 undoubtedly   

adv.确实地，无疑地

参考例句：

• It is undoubtedly she who has said that.这话明明是她说的。
• He is undoubtedly the pride of China.毫无疑问他是中国的骄傲。

2 input   

n.输入(物)；投入；vt.把(数据等)输入计算机

参考例句：

• I will forever be grateful for his considerable input.我将永远感激他的大量投入。
• All this information had to be input onto the computer.所有这些信息都必须输入计算机。

3 refineries   

精炼厂( refinery的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The efforts on closedown and suspension of small sugar refineries, small saccharin refineries and small paper mills are also being carried out in steps. 关停小糖厂、小糖精厂、小造纸厂的工作也已逐步展开。
• Hence the sitting of refineries is at a distance from population centres. 所以，炼油厂的厂址总在远离人口集中的地方。

4 indigenous   

adj.土产的，土生土长的，本地的

参考例句：

• Each country has its own indigenous cultural tradition.每个国家都有自己本土的文化传统。
• Indians were the indigenous inhabitants of America.印第安人是美洲的土著居民。

5 curtail   

vt.截短，缩短；削减

参考例句：

• The government hopes to curtail public spending.政府希望缩减公共事业开支。
• The minister had to curtail his visit.部长不得不缩短访问日期。

6 curtailed   

v.截断，缩短( curtail的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Spending on books has been severely curtailed. 购书开支已被大大削减。
• Their public health programme had to be severely curtailed. 他们的公共卫生计划不得不大大收缩。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 constraints   

强制( constraint的名词复数 )； 限制； 约束

参考例句：

• Data and constraints can easily be changed to test theories. 信息库中的数据和限制条件可以轻易地改变以检验假设。 来自英汉非文学 - 科学史
• What are the constraints that each of these imply for any design? 这每种产品的要求和约束对于设计意味着什么？ 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

8 innovative   

adj.革新的，新颖的，富有革新精神的

参考例句：

• Discover an innovative way of marketing.发现一个创新的营销方式。
• He was one of the most creative and innovative engineers of his generation.他是他那代人当中最富创造性与革新精神的工程师之一。

9 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。