考研英语阅读例题：Is there life after debt 债后还有生活吗.doc

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Is there life after debt? 债后还有生活吗？ [2010.06.24] The Economist

DEBT is as powerful a drug as alcohol and nicotine. In boom times Western consumers used it to enhance their lifestyles, companies borrowed to expand their businesses and investors employed debt to enhance their returns. For as long as the boom lasted, Mr Micawber’s famous injunction appeared to be wrong: when annual expenditure exceeded income, the result was happiness, not misery.

For a long time debt in the rich world has grown faster than incomes. In America private-sector debt alone rose from around 50% of GDP in 1950 to nearly 300% at its recent peak. The origins of the boom go even further back, reflecting huge changes in social attitudes. In the 19th century defaulting borrowers were sent to prison. The generation that lived through the Great Depression learned to scrimp and save. But the wider take-up of credit cards in the 1960s created a “buy now, pay later” society. Default became just a lifestyle choice. The reckless lender, rather than the imprudent debtor, was likely to get the blame.

As consumers leveraged up, so did companies. The average bond rating fell from A in 1981 to BBB- today, just one notch above junk status. Firms that held cash on their balance-sheets were criticised for their timidity, while bankruptcy laws, such as America’s Chapter 11, prevented creditors from foreclosing on companies. That forgiving regime encouraged entrepreneurs (in Silicon Valley a bankruptcy is like a duelling scar in a Prussian officers’ mess) but also allowed too many zombie companies to survive (look at the airlines). The road to riches was simple: buy an asset with borrowed money, then sit back and watch its price rise.

All this was encouraged by the authorities. Any time a debt crisis threatened the economy, central banks slashed interest rates. The prospect of such rescues reduced the risk of taking on more debt. Bubbles were created, first in equities, then in housing. It was a monetary ratchet, in which each cycle ended with much higher debt and much lower interest rates.

Rich-world countries now face two sets of problems. The most pressing is how to pay off their debts. Many people who have cut back their credit-card spending and firms which have seen their credit lines slashed would be horrified to see how little the rich world’s overall burden has fallen. Much of the debt has merely moved from the private to the public sector as governments have correctly stepped in to support banks and save the economy from falling into depression.

All this debt will have to be regularly refinanced and rolled over. Crises of confidence are likely, given that the rich world’s trend rate of growth (and thus the ability of debtors to service their loans) looks set to slow. Worse, much private debt is secured against assets; while the value of the debt is fixed, the value of the assets can fall. This can cause a vicious circle as debtors are forced to sell assets, driving prices down.

Piling up more debt does not seem an option. There is little appetite on behalf of borrowers or creditors. All governments face the tricky balance of appeasing the markets without damaging growth: Britain’s new government had a go this week (see article). But living with less debt will present a second set of longer-term challenges.

考研词汇
exceed［ɪkˈsid］v.①超过，胜过；②越出

［真题例句］ 66. The change in Japanese Life-style is revealed in the fact that.［2000年阅读4］

［B］ the divorce rate in Japan exceeds (①) that in the US

［例句精译］ 66事实显示：日本人的生活方式发生了改变。

［B］ 离婚率超过了美国

misery［ˈmɪzəri］n.痛苦，悲惨，不幸

［真题例句］ You could argue that art became more skeptical of happiness because modern times have seen such misery.［2006年阅读4］

［例句精译］ 你可以辩称，艺术之所以越来越怀疑快乐是因为现代社会历经这样的痛苦。

scrimp [skrɪmp] vi.
(较平时)节省着过日子,一点一滴地省钱;吝啬;克扣; vt.节省, 节缩, 过度减少

timidity [tɪˈmɪdətɪ] n.胆怯

［真题例句］ Do we think were shy and indecisive? Then our sense of timidity can cause us to hesitate, to move slowly, and not to take a step until we know the ground is safe.［1995年阅读2］

［例句精译］ 我们自以为害羞而优柔寡断吗？那么这种恐惧感便会使我们犹豫不决，行动迟缓，而且在确保安全无恙后才前进一步。

slash [slæʃ] vt. & vi.挥砍; 鞭打; 割破; 削减; vt.严厉地批评[谴责]

overall[ˈovɚˌrɔl] a.全面的，综合的；n.［pl.］工作服，工装裤

［真题例句］ According to the Canadian Institute for Health Information, prescription drug costs have risen since 1997 at twice the rate of overall (a.) health-care spending.［2005年新题型］

［例句精译］ 加拿大健康信息研究所认为，自从1997年以来，处方药价格的增长速度是全国健康福利支出增长速度的2倍。

crisis[ˈkraɪsɪs] n.（［pl.］crises）危机，紧要关头

［真题例句］ All of this caused a crisis of confidence.［2000年阅读1］

［例句精译］ 所有这一切导致了信任危机。

vicious[ˈvɪʃəs] a.恶毒的，凶残的，邪恶的

［真题例句］ 47. Misled people tend to think that using an animal in research is .［2003年阅读2］

［C］ inevitable but vicious

［例句精译］ 47被误导的人们往往认为：在研究中使用动物。

［C］ 不可避免但邪恶

appease [əˈpiz] vt. 使平息; 使满足

背景常识介绍
根据维萨美国公司和万事达卡国际组织提供的数据， 自1958 年美国运通公司发行第一张信用卡以来，
目前已有超过1.65 亿的美国人拥有信用卡，信用卡账户总数超过10亿个，人均拥有6 张信用卡。各银
行和零售商相互竞争，大量发放并鼓励使用信用卡，使得消费信贷过度扩张，逐步形成以消费为主要动
力的美国经济之增长模式。再加上长期以来储蓄率偏低，信用卡消费为美国人享受提前消费、过度消费
提供了条件，美国居民大多数依赖消费信贷或分期付款应付消费，从而形成了一个巨大的消费信贷市
场。消费信贷余额逐年攀升,信用卡违约显著增多。一些专家认为， 信用卡市场可能会是华尔街风暴后美国新的危机点。如果信用卡危机开始蔓延，美国的消费市场和实体经济无疑将受到重创。

参考译文

债务是像饮酒和吸烟一样上瘾的毒品。在繁荣时期，西方消费者利用债务提高他们的生活方式，企业利用贷款扩展其业务，投资者利用债务增加其收益。只要繁荣持续，米考伯著名的箴言似乎是错误的，每年入不敷出的结果是快乐而不是痛苦。

长期以来，富裕世界的债务比收入增长更快。在美国，单单是私营部门的债务就从1950年GDP的50%左右升至最近的峰值GDP的3倍左右。激增的起源可以追溯至更远，反映出社会态度的巨大变化。在19世纪，违约的贷款者会被送进监狱。经历过大萧条的一代学会了节俭和储蓄。但是20世纪60年代信用卡更加广泛的使用，创造了一个“寅吃卯粮”的社会。拖欠债务只不过成为一种生活方式的选择。应该受到指责的似乎是不计后果的放贷者，而不是缺乏谨慎的负债者。

消费者债务增加，企业的债务也随之增加。平均债券评级从1981年的A下降到如今的BBB-，与垃圾级仅有一级之差。在其资产负债表上拥有现金的公司被批为胆小，而破产法如美国的破产法第11章规定，债主不得没收企业。这种原谅机制不仅鼓励了企业家（在硅谷，破产犹如在普鲁士官员混乱决斗中的一道伤疤）而且还允许过多没有活力的企业幸存下来（看看航空公司就知道了）。要致富，很简单：借钱买一份资产，然后就等着他升值吧。

所有这些都得到了当局的鼓励。每当债务危机威胁经济，央行就会大幅降低利率。这样救助的预期降低了继续负债的风险。泡沫出现，首先出现在股票，接着是住房。它是一个货币棘轮，每转一圈，债务会增加，利率会更低。

发达国家现在面临两方面的问题。当务之急是如何偿还其债务。很多人减少了信用卡的消费，很多公司减少了信贷，但是他们惊恐地发现富裕世界的总体债务却几乎没有减少多少。由于各政府适当地介入，支持银行并拯救经济免于陷入萧条，很多债务只不过是由私人部门转到了公共部门。

所有这些债务都必须定期重新融资和延期偿还。由于富裕世界的增长率趋势趋缓，债务人偿还债务的能力也有所减弱，信任危机可能爆发。更加糟糕的是，很多私人债务是以资产做担保的；债务的价值是固定的，而资产的价值却在降低。由于负债者被迫抛售资产，导致价格下跌，这可能会导致恶性循环。

继续大量举债似乎不是一种选择。不论是贷款者还是债主双方都几乎没有这种欲望。所有政府都面临缓和市场又不损害增长的艰难平衡：本周，英国新政府进行了尝试。但是过较少债务的生活又会是另一个长期的挑战。

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