首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
Pundits who want to sound judicious are fond of warning against generalizing. Each country is different, they say, and no one st
Pundits who want to sound judicious are fond of warning against generalizing. Each country is different, they say, and no one st
admin
2010-03-25
65
问题
Pundits who want to sound judicious are fond of warning against generalizing. Each country is different, they say, and no one story fits all of Asia. This is, of course, silly. all of these economies plunged into economic crisis within a few months of each other, so they must have had something in common.
In fact, the logic of catastrophe was pretty much the same in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and South Korea. (Japan is a very different story. ) In each case investors -- mainly, but not entirely, foreign banks who had made short-term loans -- all tried to pull their money out at the same time. The result was a Combined banking and currency crisis: a banking crisis because no bank can convert all its assets into cash on short notice; a currency crisis because panicked investors were trying not only to convert long term assets into cash, but to convert baht or rupiah into dollars. In the face of the stampede, governments had no good options. If they let their currencies plunge, inflation would soar and companies that had borrowed in dollars would go bankrupt; if they tried to support their currencies by pushing up interest rates, the same firms would probably go bust from the combination of debt burden and recession. In practice, countries split the difference -- and paid a heavy price regardless.
Was the crisis a punishment for bad economic management? Like most cliches, the catchphrase "crony capitalism" has prospered because it gets at something real: excessively cozy relationships between government and business really did lead to a lot of bad investments. The still primitive financial structure of Asian business also made the economies peculiarly vulnerable to a loss of confidence. But the punishment was surely disproportionate to the crime, and many investments that look foolish in retrospect seemed sensible at the time.
Given that there were no good policy options, was the policy response mainly on the right track? There was frantic blame-shifting when everything in Asia seemed to be going wrong; now there is a race to claim credit when some things have started to go right. The International Monetary Fund points to Korea’s recovery -- and more generally to the fact that the sky didn’t fall after all -- as proof that its policy recommendations were right. Never mind that other IMF clients have done far worse, and that the economy of Malaysia- which refused IMF help, and horrified respectable opinion by imposing capital controls -- also seems to be on the mend. Malaysia’s Prime Minister, by contrast, claims full credit for any good news -- even though neighbouring economies also seem to have bottomed out.
The truth is that an observer without any ax to grind would probably conclude that none of the policies adopted either on or in defiance Of the IMF’s advice made much difference either way. Budget policies, interest rate policies, banking reform -- whatever countries tried, just about all the capital that could flee, did. And when there was no more money to run, the natural recuperative powers of the economies finally began to prevail. At best, the money doctors who purported to offer cures provided a helpful bedside manner; at worst, they were like medieval physicians who. prescribed bleeding as a remedy for all ills.
Will the patients stage a full recovery? It depends on exactly what you mean by "full". South Korea’s industrial production is already above its pre-crisis level; but in the spring of 1997 anyone who had predicted zero growth in Korean industry over the next two years would have been regarded as a reckless doomsayer. So if by recovery you mean not just a return to growth, but one that brings the region’s performance back to something like what people used to regard as the Asian norm, they have a long way to go.
"Pundits" in the first paragraph is closest in meaning to
选项
A、economists.
B、bankers.
C、industrialists.
D、financiers.
答案
A
解析
这是道词汇推断题。根据上下文,pundits在文中指经济学家。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/gEqO777K
0
专业英语八级
相关试题推荐
Actually,though,America,the"landofimmigrants",hasalwayshadpeopleofmanydifferentnationalitiesandlanguages.The19
Ithinkwemustmakeimportantdecisionssoon.Weneedtodecidehowtodevelopournaturalresourcesandmineralwealthwithout
A、Hedidn’tknowwhatwouldhappenifhemadethesuggestion.B、Hedidn’tfeelnervousafterhehadputforwardthesuggestion.
PopstarstodayenjoyastyleoflivingwhichwasoncetheprerogativeonlyofRoyalty.Wherevertheygo,peopleturnoutinthe
A、Workingabroadisnotalwaysarequirementofforeignlanguageteachers.B、Whenyouarriveinaforeigncountry,youmustfind
Speakingtwolanguagesratherthanjustonehasobviouspracticalbenefitsinanincreasinglyglobalizedworld.Butinrecentye
A、manners.B、talkativeness.C、height.D、jewelry.D
1 Television—themostpervasiveandpersuasiveofmoderntechnologies,markedbyrapidchangeandgrowth—ismovingintoanewe
A、arenotrichB、neednottoworkC、areunintelligentD、havethesamelivesasthoseofthemB
A、openB、happyC、self-protectedD、humbleC
随机试题
为使毫安表稳定指示毫安值,曝光时间应大于
某药品批发企业经营范围中包括中药材、中药饮片和蛋白同化制剂。该企业具有较好的避光、避风、防虫、防暑设备:有一个独立的冷库,有用于冷库温度自动检测、记录、调控、报警的设备,冷库制{冷设备有双回路供电系统,有封闭式的运输冷藏、冷冻药品的冷藏车;建有符合质量管理
事故应急救援系统中的后勤保障组织主要负责应急救援所需的各种设备、设施、物资以及生活、医药等的后勤保障。()
工人的工作时间中,熟悉施工图纸所消耗的时间属于()。【2010年真题】
在国际经济发展趋缓的形势下,确保我国经济健康发展的根本之策是()。
有一堆粗细均匀的圆木,最上面一层有6根,每向下一层增加一根,共堆了25层,这堆圆木共有多少根?()
无意识知觉的研究中,控制自变量的方法有()。
BenefitPaymentstoAmericanWorkersGermanChancellor(首相)OttoVonBismarckmaybemostfamousforhismilitaryanddiploma
DeterminingtheAgeofthePlanetsandtheUniverseP1:Asthesolarnebula,alargerotatingcloudofinterstellardustandgas
Tobeagoodteacher,youneedsomeofthegiftsofagoodactor,youmustbeabletoholdtheattentionandinterestofyourau
最新回复
(
0
)