nicotine. In boom times Western consumers used it t. 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 coun.ries now face two sets of problems. The most pressin. 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.Al. this.debt will have to be regularly refinanced an. 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-st.le 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。scri.p [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]overa.l.ˈovɚˌrɔl] a.全面的,综合的;n.[pl.]工作服,工装裤[真题例句] According.to the Ca.adian 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 cause. 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。

Is there life after debt? 债后还有生活吗? [2
0.0.0
6.24] The EconomistDEBT i
s.as powerful a drug as alcohol a
n. nicotin


e. In boom times Western consumers used it
t. enhance their lifestyle



s. 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 wron
g. when annual expenditure exceeded income, the result was happiness, not miser
y. 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 pea
k. 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 cou
n.ries now face two sets of problem
s. The most pressi
n. 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.A
l. thi
s.debt will have to be regularly refinanced a
n. rolled ove
r. Crises of confidence are likely, given that the rich world’s trend rate of growth (and thus the ability of debtors to service their loan
s. looks set to slo
w. 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] 6
6. The change in Japanese Life-s
t.le 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 miser
y.[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。scr
i.p [skrɪmp] vi.(较平时)节省着过日子,一点一滴地省钱;吝啬;克扣; v
t.节省, 节缩, 过度减少timidity [tɪˈmɪdətɪ]
n.胆怯[真题例句] Do w
e.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] v
t. v
i.挥砍; 鞭打; 割破; 削减; vt.严厉地批评[谴责]over
a.
l.ˈovɚˌrɔl] a.全面的,综合的;
n.[pl.]工作服,工装裤[真题例句] Accordin
g.to the C
a.adian 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.([p
l.]crises)危机,紧要关头[真题例句] All of this caus
e. 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] 4
7. 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] v
t. 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。