VOA标准英语2012--Global Economy Still Viewed as Fragile

Global Economy Still Viewed as Fragile

 

Business, government and civil society officials are expressing greater confidence in the world economy over the next 12 months. However, the Global Confidence Index also shows they believe the economy remains¹ on very shaky ground.

The managing director of the World Economic Forum² says the index is a bit more encouraging than the previous quarterly survey. However, Lee Howell says it’s nothing to celebrate.

“I think the Global Confidence Index, in terms of what you saw with the latest results, it’s good news, but it’s relative. Relative to really the great uncertainty³ and concern that were seen in the last quarter, which, as you know, if we look back in December and January, at the close of last year and the beginning of this year, lots of uncertainty. Particularly around what was happening in the Euro zone,” he said.

This includes the economic turmoil⁴ over Greece’s debt and debt concerns in other European countries as well.

Economic, political shocks

The index shows fear of a major economic disruption dropped from 63 percent of the respondents last quarter to 46 percent in the first quarter of this year.

“The survey clearly shows that people are less concerned about a major economic disruption in the next 12 months. However, and this is the big however, is that they’re more concerned about geopolitical shock. And it’s obvious that we live in a world where geopolitical shocks would absolutely impact the geoeconomic space,” Howell said.

Potential sources of geopolitical shock include Syria, Iran and North Korea.

“Unfortunately,” he said, We kind of live in a world where there are a number of places where this shock could come from at any given moment.”

Cautious optimism?

Overall, Howell says the index does not indicate a return to cautious optimism. Instead, it’s more a feeling of being less alarmed.

There’s growing concern, he says, that the established economic, business and political systems that fared well in the 20th Century may not be up to the task in the 21st Century.

“We’re seeing at least in the industrialized world a real concern over structural⁵ issues, structural unemployment. And also an appreciation⁶ that the monetary⁷ and fiscal⁸ remedies that were put forth⁹ in the 70s and 80s and 90s have maybe run their limits in that fact that we’re dealing¹⁰ with a period of major structural change, economic level,” he said.

The index says there’s a perception of a lack of bold leadership around the world and an unwillingness¹¹ to cooperate to solve common problems.

“What is missing is the efforts of particularly those who are in the leadership position sort of connecting the dots for the public and saying, if we do this and we handle this policy issue, it is going to impact this other issue. Or if we actually focus purely¹² on this from a national context, we’re going to miss the big story because globally this is happening. I think we need a much more of a holistic¹³ and systematic¹⁴ approach and frame these issues for the public,” he said.

The next Global Confidence Index will be released in August. About 1200 international experts will be questioned about global economic and political issues.

1 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。

2 forum   

n.论坛，讨论会

参考例句：

• They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
• The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。

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 turmoil   

n.骚乱，混乱，动乱

参考例句：

• His mind was in such a turmoil that he couldn't get to sleep.内心的纷扰使他无法入睡。
• The robbery put the village in a turmoil.抢劫使全村陷入混乱。

5 structural   

adj.构造的，组织的，建筑（用）的

参考例句：

• The storm caused no structural damage.风暴没有造成建筑结构方面的破坏。
• The North American continent is made up of three great structural entities.北美大陆是由三个构造单元组成的。

6 appreciation   

n.评价；欣赏；感谢；领会，理解；价格上涨

参考例句：

• I would like to express my appreciation and thanks to you all.我想对你们所有人表达我的感激和谢意。
• I'll be sending them a donation in appreciation of their help.我将送给他们一笔捐款以感谢他们的帮助。

7 monetary   

adj.货币的，钱的；通货的；金融的；财政的

参考例句：

• The monetary system of some countries used to be based on gold.过去有些国家的货币制度是金本位制的。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

8 fiscal   

adj.财政的，会计的，国库的，国库岁入的

参考例句：

• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。
• The government has two basic strategies of fiscal policy available.政府有两个可行的财政政策基本战略。

9 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。

10 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

11 unwillingness   

n. 不愿意，不情愿

参考例句：

• Her unwillingness to answer questions undermined the strength of her position. 她不愿回答问题，这不利于她所处的形势。
• His apparent unwillingness would disappear if we paid him enough. 如果我们付足了钱，他露出的那副不乐意的神情就会消失。

12 purely   

adv.纯粹地，完全地

参考例句：

• I helped him purely and simply out of friendship.我帮他纯粹是出于友情。
• This disproves the theory that children are purely imitative.这证明认为儿童只会单纯地模仿的理论是站不住脚的。

13 holistic   

adj.从整体着眼的，全面的

参考例句：

• There is a fundamental ambiguity in the use of word "whole" in recent holistic literature.在近代的整体主义著作中，“整体”这个词的用法极其含混。
• In so far as historicism is technological,its approach is not piecemeal,but "holistic".仅就历史决定论是一种技术而论，它的方法不是渐进的，而是“整体主义的”。

14 systematic   

adj.有系统的，有计划的，有方法的

参考例句：

• The way he works isn't very systematic.他的工作不是很有条理。
• The teacher made a systematic work of teaching.这个教师进行系统的教学工作。