There have been some dramatic devaluations in history—think of sterling in 1967 and 1992, or Argentina in 2001/2. When currencies decline, they do so in a big way. China's devaluation of the yuan today is less than 2%, but it is also being treated as a major story. Robert Peston of the BBC says it is more significant than either the Greek crisis or if the Federal Reserve raised interest rates. The combination of falling commodity prices and weaker emerging markets is certainly a worry. 歷史上有許多急劇的貶值。如,1967年和1992年的英鎊,2001/02年的阿根廷比索。貨幣貶值一般是以驚天動地的方式完成。中國今天對人民幣的貶值還不到2%,但是也在被當成是一個大事件來對待。BBC的Robert Peston的稱,這比希臘危機或是美聯儲加息還要影響深遠。大宗商品價格的持續下跌和新興市場的日漸走弱當然是一個擔憂。
Bears have predicted that a Chinese devaluation would send a new wave of deflation round the globe. It would force Asian competitors to respond with their own devaluations, reducing import prices in the developed world. This might lead to job losses in the west or reduced profit margins. But a 2% devaluation is neither here nor there. 空頭已經預測,中國的貶值會給全球帶來新一輪的貶值潮,會迫使亞洲競爭對手應之以自身貨幣的貶值,從而降低發達世界的進口價格。它可能還會導致西方工作的流失或是減少利潤空間。但是,2%的貶值還到不了這個程度。
China is trying to juggle several balls at once; to move from an investment-led economy to a consumption-led model without letting growth slip too far, to rein in speculation in property and equities without damaging industry, to engage with markets without being hit by volatility, and to expand its financial sector without suffering the hot money flows that destabilised Asia in the late 1990s. It would be surprising if it didn't drop at least one ball. And its task is so complicated that it is bound to send out confusing signals every now and then. 中國正在一心多用:在不導致增長下滑太遠的情況下,讓經濟模式從以投資為主導轉向以消費為主導;在不重傷工業的情況下,控制房地產和證券市場的投機;在不遭遇波動性打擊的情況下,參與市場;在不為曾導致上世紀90年代末期亞洲不穩定的熱錢流動所傷的情況下,擴張金融部門。倘若這些目標沒有一個失敗,這才是令人吃驚的。而且,這些目標的復雜性決定了他們必定會間歇性地發出令人困惑的信號。
這篇文章涉及的一些財經類核心詞匯是我們考研真題中經常出現的,例如:貶值devaluation;美聯儲the Federal Reserve;利率interest rates;大宗商品價格commodity prices;新興市場emerging markets;利潤空間profit margins;以消費為主導a consumption-led model;房地產和證券市場property and equities等等。小編提醒廣大考生,泛讀的學習也是非常有必要的,要把課余休息時間利用起來,多了解文化背景知識,這對我們2016考研英語考試大有裨益。祝大家夢想成真!