VOA标准英语2009年-Economists Question Effect of Stimulus Plan

President Barack Obama scored his first major political victory with the passage of a $787-billion stimulus¹ package, which he will sign into law this week. Although many economists³ now agree that a stimulus was needed to jolt⁴ the ailing⁵ economy, some say the size of the package may not be enough.
　
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi speaks during news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, after House passed stimulus legislation, 13 Feb 2009

President Obama's economic team says the stimulus package should help to create or save about four million jobs. But chief economist² of Moody's Economy.com, Mark Zandi, estimates the stimulus will only create about 2.2 million jobs by 2010, leaving the unemployment rate hovering⁶ close to 10 percent.

Zandi, speaking on Fox News Sunday, says the stimulus is a good idea, but it is simply not big enough in size to address the problem.

"It is meaningful, but I do not think it is enough," said Mark Zandi. "I think the economy is in a very difficult situation. The difficulties require a larger package, and I think a year from now we will be talking about stimulus again, yes."

White House Senior Adviser⁷ David Axelrod, appearing on NBC, acknowledged the differing opinions among economists, but says he believes their numbers are accurate.
　
Senior advisor⁸ David Axelrod (File)

"We think this will have a multiplier effect and that ultimately it is going to pay off, it is going to turn this around, it is going to break the hard edge of this recession," said David Axelrod. "The interesting thing is we just had a debate this week, and you heard people saying it was too large, you heard people saying it was too small. We believe it is where it should be and we want to move forward."

Besides unemployment, an even larger economic crisis faces the Obama administration with many homeowners facing foreclosure and banks, burdened with bad assets, unable or unwilling⁹ to lend money. Treasury¹⁰ Secretary Tim Geitner unveiled a $1-trillion plan last Tuesday on how the government will deal with taking those toxic¹¹ assets off the banks' balance sheets and infuse them with capital. Wall Street reacted negatively to the announcement, with many investors¹² saying the plan lacked specifics.

Chief Executive Officer of Google Eric Schmidt says the government will need to address the frozen credit markets and the growing foreclosure rate sooner rather than later.

"The business community wants action now," said Eric Schmidt. "Customers do not feel comfortable; people are worried about their jobs. Somehow the government has to fix the foreclosure problem, they have to fix the credit problem and then they have to be the funder of last resort to get this thing going again. From my perspective, people cannot get their jobs; they cannot buy things and so forth¹³ without credit. So this needs to be their highest priority for the next few weeks. And let us hope it is."

Schmidt and Zandi say if the administration is better able to detail the way in which they will value the troubled assets then the markets will gain more confidence.

1 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。

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 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 jolt   

v.（使）摇动，（使）震动，（使）颠簸

参考例句：

• We were worried that one tiny jolt could worsen her injuries.我们担心稍微颠簸一下就可能会使她的伤势恶化。
• They were working frantically in the fear that an aftershock would jolt the house again.他们拼命地干着，担心余震可能会使房子再次受到震动。

5 ailing   

v.生病

参考例句：

• They discussed the problems ailing the steel industry. 他们讨论了困扰钢铁工业的问题。
• She looked after her ailing father. 她照顾有病的父亲。

6 hovering   

鸟( hover的现在分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫

参考例句：

• The helicopter was hovering about 100 metres above the pad. 直升机在离发射台一百米的上空盘旋。
• I'm hovering between the concert and the play tonight. 我犹豫不决今晚是听音乐会还是看戏。

7 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

8 advisor   

n.顾问，指导老师，劝告者

参考例句：

• They employed me as an advisor.他们聘请我当顾问。
• The professor is engaged as a technical advisor.这位教授被聘请为技术顾问。

9 unwilling   

adj.不情愿的

参考例句：

• The natives were unwilling to be bent by colonial power.土著居民不愿受殖民势力的摆布。
• His tightfisted employer was unwilling to give him a raise.他那吝啬的雇主不肯给他加薪。

10 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。

11 toxic   

adj.有毒的，因中毒引起的

参考例句：

• The factory had accidentally released a quantity of toxic waste into the sea.这家工厂意外泄漏大量有毒废物到海中。
• There is a risk that toxic chemicals might be blasted into the atmosphere.爆炸后有毒化学物质可能会进入大气层。

12 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

13 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。