冰火结构

This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.

The National Association for Business Economics has its latest predictions for the American economy. Most of the forty-five business economists questioned said they expect the recession to end in the second half of the year. But they also expect a slower-than-usual recovery.

Still, there were more signs this week that Americans are feeling better about the economy. The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index had its biggest jump in six years in May.

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This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.

A bill to place new restrictions on the credit card industry in the United States won final approval this week in Congress. The measure went to President Obama to sign into law with popular support, except among banks.

Credit card companies will have to inform cardholders forty-five days before they raise interest rates or change other important terms. The new act will also bar companies from raising rates on existing debts unless payment is at least sixty days late.

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This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.

Health care reform was a big subject this week at the White House.

President Obama held a series of meetings, including with Democratic leaders from the House of Representatives. Speaker Nancy Pelosi promised to bring legislation to the full House by the end of July.

The Senate must also act. The president wants to sign a bill into law by the end of the year.

On Monday he got support from leaders of six groups in the health care industry. These represent doctors, hospitals, insurance companies, medical suppliers, union members and others.

A doctor treats a patient at a hospital in Fargo, North Dakota
They promised to do their part to cut the growth rate in health spending by one and a half percentage points a year. The savings over ten years could amount to two trillion dollars.

Many industry leaders opposed reform efforts in the past. But health spending has rocketed over the past generation to about seventeen percent of the economy. President Obama says Americans spend more than any other nation yet the system is broken.

BARACK OBAMA: “At the rate we’re going, we are expected to spend one-fifth of our economy on health care within a decade. And yet we’re getting less for our money.”

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This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.

Signs that the recession is easing in the United States have led to a lot of talk about “green shoots.” That means early signs of economic recovery, like the way plants begin to shoot up from the ground as a sign of spring. But the extent to which economic green shoots can be found depends on where you look.

Housing prices, economic activity and employment are down across the United States. But the recession which began at the end of two thousand seven has not hurt all fifty states equally.

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This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.

American officials say they will publish results on May fourth from a special examination of banks. The purpose was to see if the country’s nineteen largest banks could survive losses in the event that the recession got even worse.

The Obama administration announced the so-called stress tests in February as part of efforts to rebuild the trust of investors. If banks are told they need more capital, they will have six months to raise the money from private markets or the government.

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The race to save two of America’s big three carmakers is entering a new and intense period.

In March, the government ordered Chrysler to cut costs and form an alliance with Italian carmaker Fiat by April thirtieth. The actions were conditions for additional government aid of up to six billion dollars. The company received four billion in federal loans in December.

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This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.

Leaders of the world’s largest rich and developing economies met Thursday in London. The Group of Twenty agreed to an additional trillion dollars for the International Monetary Fund and other lenders to strengthen the world economy and trade. President Obama says the G-20 summit will be a “turning point” in seeking global economic recovery.

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This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.

The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund will meet in Washington, D.C. Saturday and Sunday. One subject for discussion will be falling expectations for world economic growth.

A new report by the I.M.F. estimates that the world economy will shrink by one and three-tenths percent this year. That would be the worst performance in more than sixty years. Three months ago, the I.M.F. predicted a small growth for this year.

I.M.F. Chief Economist Olivier Blanchard, left, speaking in Washington Wednesday
Major industrialized economies are expected to see the biggest decreases, shrinking by almost four percent. The I.M.F. predicts developing economies will continue to grow for the year, but only by about one and one-half percent.

The I.M.F. says the world will slowly return to growth of almost two percent next year. But the lending organization warns that strong policies to supervise and support the financial system are needed if the world economy is to fully recovery.

Olivier Blanchard is the chief economist for the I.M.F. He has said that banks are still in the process of rebuilding their financial positions. He added that securities markets are still operating poorly.

Economic experts believe the world financial industry is moving towards recovery but with more losses to come. In all, the I.M.F. says worldwide financial losses could be as high as four trillion dollars by the end of next year. World trade is expected to drop eleven percent this year, after expanding by three percent last year.

The I.M.F. report says international lending may not fully recover until two thousand eleven. The financial crisis has made the I.M.F. more important than ever. The world’s largest economies promised to increase the size of the fund by about five hundred billion dollars. They did so at the G-Twenty meeting in London earlier this month. This week, President Obama proposed that the United States lend the I.M.F. one hundred billion dollars as part of that promise.

Last week, Mexico became the first nation to borrow from the I.M.F. under a new program to provide emergency credit to nations with strong economies. Mexico received a forty-seven billion dollar line of credit for one year. Poland and Colombia are also seeking loans from the program.

This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.

April is National Financial Literacy Month in the United States. As the country faces a deep recession, Americans are paying closer attention to personal finance. Some critics partly blame the crisis on Americans’ low savings rate and high personal debt.

But efforts to increase financial knowledge have grown in the last ten years. Government, community and business leaders have pushed for teaching young people about the importance of saving, budgets and the true cost of credit.

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This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.

This week American Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner announced details of a plan aimed at removing billions of dollars in bad debts from American banks.

The government program has two parts. One involves buying groups of loans, like home mortgages. The second involves buying securities or financial investments tied to loans. Under the plan, the federal government will partner with private investors to buy bad loans made by banks.

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