VOA常速英语2007年-Estonia is First Developing Country To Reach To

By Barry Wood
Washington
10 November 2007

Washington's non-government Cato Institute Friday released its annual report on economic freedom, in which it uses several indicators¹ to rank 141 global economies. VOA's Barry Wood reports the surprise in this year's report is the accession of a former communist economy, Estonia, to number eight position.

As in previous annual surveys, economic freedom is highest in Hong Kong, Singapore, New Zealand, Switzerland, the United States and Britain. But report author James Gwartney, an economics professor at Florida State University, says Estonia's extraordinary progress vaulted² it into the top ten.

"It's a country that has been amazing progress in economic freedom in a relatively³ short period of time. In 1995, in the index for that particular year, Estonia was something like 70th or 71st. And now it has moved all the way up to eighth," he said.

Estonia was part of the Soviet⁴ Union until 1991. The least economically free country is Zimbabwe, which just edged out Burma. Data was not available for Cuba and North Korea.

The survey employs several indicators to measure economic freedom. These include five broad categories: the size of government, the rule of law, access to sound money, openness to trade, and regulation of business and labor⁵. Gwartney elaborates on how the rule of law component⁶ is factored in.

"The second area is the legal structure and protection of property "And, as I mentioned, we rely on upon data on the security of property rights, the independence of the judiciary system, how difficult it is to enforce contracts," he said.

Gwartney and the Cato Institute say economic freedom globally has been improving over the past decade. They say that China and India have made great strides in economic freedom. Kenya and Ghana have made significant recent advances.

The World Bank also is active in assessing economic freedom. Its recent publication, Doing Business 2008, measures the ease of doing business in 178 economies. The bank examines specific measures of conducting commerce like starting a business, employing workers, registering property, getting credit, paying taxes and trading across borders.

Simeon Djankov, principal author of the report, specifies⁷ the highest ranked economies. "You see some patterns: Transition economies (do best): Croatia at number two, Macedonia at number four, Georgia at number five, Bulgaria-my own country-at number ten," he said.

Egypt, says Djankov, is the top reforming economy of 2006/2007, the latest years for which data is available. He says despite improvements in a few countries, worldwide Africa remains⁸ the hardest place to do business.

1 indicators   

（仪器上显示温度、压力、耗油量等的）指针( indicator的名词复数 )； 指示物； （车辆上的）转弯指示灯； 指示信号

参考例句：

• The economic indicators are better than expected. 经济指标比预期的好。
• It is still difficult to develop indicators for many concepts used in social science. 为社会科学领域的许多概念确立一个指标仍然很难。

2 vaulted   

adj.拱状的

参考例句：

• She vaulted over the gate and ran up the path. 她用手一撑跃过栅栏门沿着小路跑去。
• The formal living room has a fireplace and vaulted ceilings. 正式的客厅有一个壁炉和拱形天花板。

3 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

4 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

5 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

6 component   

n.组成部分，成分，元件；adj.组成的，合成的

参考例句：

• Each component is carefully checked before assembly.每个零件在装配前都经过仔细检查。
• Blade and handle are the component parts of a knife.刀身和刀柄是一把刀的组成部分。

7 specifies   

v.指定( specify的第三人称单数 )；详述；提出…的条件；使具有特性

参考例句：

• The third clause of the contract specifies steel sashes for the windows. 合同的第三款指定使用钢窗。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The contract specifies red tiles, not slates, for the roof. 合同规定屋顶用红瓦，并非石板瓦。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

8 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。