金融英语阅读本.docx

金融英语阅读本.docx

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金融英语阅读本

FinancialEnglishReading

Unit1Money

“Ifyoucanactuallycountyourmoney,thenyouarenotreallyarichman.”J.PaulGetty,anAmericanoilbillionaire.

I.WhatisMoney?

Asthewordmoneyisusedineverydayconversation,itcanmeanmanythings,buttoeconomistsithasaveryspecificmeaning.Toavoidconfusion,wemustclarifyhoweconomists'useofthe

wordmoneydiffersfromconventionalusage.

Economistsdefinemoneyasanythingthatisgenerallyacceptedinpaymentforgoodsorservicesorintherepaymentofdebts.

Currency,consistingofdollarbillsandcoins,isonetypeofmoney.Whenmostpeopletalkaboutmoney,they'retalkingaboutcurrency.However,todefinemoneymerelyascurrencyismuchtoonarrowforeconomists.

Becausechecksarealsoacceptedaspaymentforpurchases,checkingaccountdepositsareconsideredmoneyaswell.Anevenbroaderdefinitionofmoneyisoftenneeded.Asyoucansee,thereisnosingle,precisedefinitionofmoneyorthemoneysupply,evenforeconomists.

Tocomplicatemattersfurther,thewordmoneyisfrequentlyusedsynonymouslywithwealth.Whenpeoplesay,"Joeisrich—hehasanawfullotofmoney,"theyprobablymeanthatJoenotonlyhasalotofcurrencyandahighbalanceinhischeckingaccountbutalsohasstocks,bonds,fourcars,threehouses,andayacht.

Economistsmakeadistinctionbetweenmoneyandwealth.Wealthincludesnotonlymoneybutalsootherassetssuchasbonds,commonstock,art,land,furniture,cars,andhouses.

Peoplealsousethewordmoneytodescribewhateconomistscallincome,asinthesentence"Susanwouldbeawonderfulcatch;shehasagoodjobandearnsalotofmoney."

Incomeisaflowofearningsperunitoftime.Money,bycontrast,isastock:

Itisacertainamountatagivenpointintime.

Ifsomeonetellsyouthathehasanincomeof$1000,youcannottellwhetherheearnedalotoralittlewithoutknowingwhetherthis$1000isearnedperyear,permonth,orevenperday.Butifsomeonetellsyouthatshehas$1000inherpocket,youknowexactlyhowmuchthisis.

Keepinmindthatthemoneydiscussedreferstoanythingthatisgenerallyacceptedinpaymentforgoodsandservicesorintherepaymentofdebtsandisdistinctfromincomeandwealth.

II.Whatdoesmoneydo?

Whethermoneyisshellsorrocksorgoldorpaper,ithasthreeprimaryfunctionsinanyeconomy:

asamediumofexchange,aunitofaccount,andastoreofvalue（价值的储藏）.Ofthethreefunctions,itsfunctionasamediumofexchangeiswhatdistinguishesmoneyfromotherassetssuchasstocks,bonds,andhouses.

MediumofExchange（交易媒介）

Inalmostallmarkettransactionsinoureconomy,moneyintheformofcurrencyorchecksisamediumofexchange;itisusedtopayforgoodsandservices.Theuseofmoneyasamediumofexchangepromoteseconomicefficiencybyeliminating（节约）muchofthetimespentinexchanginggoodsandservices.

Thetimespenttryingtoexchangegoodsorservicesiscalledatransactioncost,Inabartereconomy,transactioncostsarehighbecausepeoplehavetosatisfya"doublecoincidenceofwants"（需求的双重巧合）---theyhavetofindsomeonewhohasgoodsorservicetheywantandwhoalsowantsthegoodsorservicetheyhavetooffer.Moneyisthereforeessentialinaneconomyitisalubricant（润滑剂）thatallowstheeconomytorunmoresmoothlybyloweringtransactioncosts,therebyencouragingspecializationandthedivisionoflabor.

UnitofAccount（计算单位）

Thesecondroleofmoneyistoprovideaunitofaccount;thatis,itisusedtomeasurevalueintheeconomy.Wemeasurethevalueofgoodsandservicesintermsofmoney,justaswemeasureweightintermsofpoundsordistanceintermsofmiles.

Moneyweusenowadays,nomatterintheformofbanknotesorcoinorelectronicmoney,donothavethesamevaluewiththegoodsandservicesthatitexchanged,butitrepresentaparticularvalue.Thatistosay,moneyweuseinthemarketisfiatmoney.

Fiatmoneyhasnotonlynoparticularvalueinuse;itdoesn'tevenreallyhaveavalueinexchangeexceptthatwhichisdecreedthatitwouldhave.

Sofiatmoneyismoneywhichisintrinsicallyworthless.Anditsvalueexistsbyvirtueofthefactthatitisgenerallyacceptable.Andfiatmoney,needlesstosay,isoneofthemostmysteriousinventionsofthehumanmind,andnoeconomisthasmanagedtoexplainexactlywhyitisthatpeoplewillgenerallyacceptsomethingasvaluablewhenitclearlyhasnovalueotherthanthatwhichitisdecreedtohave.

StoreofValue（价值的储藏）

Moneyalsofunctionsasastoreofvalue:

itisarepositoryofpurchasingpowerovertime.Itisanasset.It'ssomethingthatwecanusetostorevalueawaytoberetrievedatalaterpointintime.Sowecannotconsumetoday,wecanholdmoneyinstead-andtransferthatconsumptionpowertosomepointinthefuture.

Moneyisnotuniqueasastoreofvalue;anyasset,beitmoney，stocks,bonds,land,houses,art,orjewelry,canbeusedtostorewealth.Manysuchassetshaveadvantagesovermoneyasastoreofvalue.Theyoftenpaytheownerahigherinterestratethanmoney,experiencepriceappreciation,anddeliverservicessuchasprovidingaroofoverone'shead.Iftheseassetsareamoredesirablestoreofvaluethanmoney,whydopeopleholdmoneyatall?

Theanswertothisquestionrelatestotheimportanteconomicconceptofliquidity,therelativeeaseandspeedwithwhichanassetcanbeconvertedintoamediumofexchange.Liquidityishighlydesirable.Moneyisthemostliquidassetofallbecauseitisthemediumofexchange;itdoesnothavetobeconvertedintoanythingelseinordertomakepurchases.Otherassetsinvolvetransactioncostswhentheyareconvertedintomoney.

III.DifferentTypesofMoney

Now,let’sclarifythemeaningofsomewordsthatarerelatedto“money”.Pleaselookatthefollowingwords.

Thesearealldifferentformsofmoney,

Money,Cash,Currency,Reserves,Salary,Wages,Income,Loan,Pension,Fund,Capital,Instalments,Debt,Subsidy,rebate,Deposit,Aid.Stake.

WhataretheexactmeaningofthesewordsinEnglish?

Now,let’sdosomeexercises,afterthatyouwillhaveaveryclearideaofwhattheyare.

Exercise1

Choosethecorrectalternativetocompleteeachsentence:

1.Moneyinnotes（banknotes）andcoinsiscalled

a.cashb.capitalc.reserves

2.Thedollar,themarkandtheyenareall

a.currenciesb.fundsc.monies

3.Moneyborrowedfromabankisa

a.depositb.incomec.loan

4.Borrowedmoneythathastobepaidbackconstitutesa

a.debtb.fundc.subsidy

5.Allthemoneyreceivedbyapersonoracompanyisknownas

a.aidb.incomec.wages

Exercise2

6.Themoneyearnedforaweek'smanualworkiscalled

a.incomeb.salaryc.wages

7.Themoneypaidforamonth's（professional）workisa

a.loanb.salaryc.wages

8.Moneyplacedinbanksandothersavingsinstitutionsconstitutes

a.capitalb.depositscfinance

9.Moneypaidbythegovernmentoracompanytoaretiredpersonisa

a.pensionb.rebatec.subsidy

10.Themoneythatwillultimatelybeusedtopaypensionsiskeptina

a.budgetb.depositc.fund

Now,let’slookatthefollowsentencewhichwilltellyouthehistoryofsalary.

Money'sgotaverycolourfulhistory,becauseanumberofthingshavebeenusedintheplaceofwhatweuseasmoney.Feathers,shells,cloth...salt.InRomantimeswhentheRomansoldierswerepaidinsaltandthat'showwegetthewordsalary,fromtheLatinsalforsalt.

Exercise3

11.Themoneyneededtostartacompanyiscalled

a.aidb.capitalc.debt_

12.Themoneypaidtolawyers,architects,privateschools,etc.iscalled

a.feesb.instalmentsc.wages

13.Regularpartpaymentsofdebtsarecalled

a.depositsb.loansc.instalments

14.Partofapaymentthatisofficiallygivenbackiscalleda

a.giftb.instalmentc.rebate

15.Estimatedexpenditureandincomeiswrittenina

a.budgetb.reservec.statement

Exercise4

16.Aperson'smoneyinabusinessisknownashisorher

a.depositb.fundc.stake

17.Moneygiventoproducerstoallowthemtosellcheaplyiscalleda

a.loanb.rebatec.subsidy

18.Moneygiventodevelopingcountriesbyricheronesisknownas

a.aidb.debtc.subsidy

IV.FinancialSystemandFinancialMarket

TheFinancialSystem

Everyonehassomecontactwiththefinancialsystem.Weareallawareoffinancialinstitutionslikebanks,buildingsocieties,andinsurancecompanies,eachprovidinginitsownwayforsomeofoureverydayneeds.Forexample,paymentsfacilitiesthroughbanks,convenientsavingsandaccesstohomeloansfrombuildingsocieties,andcar,house,orlifeinsurance.Otherfinancialinstitutions,suchasinvestmenttrusts,venturecapitalcompanies,anddiscounthouses-tonameonlyafew-arelesswell-knownandcarryoutmorespecializedfunctions.Mostpeoplealsoknowsomethingaboutfinancialmarkets,liketheStockExchangewheresecuritiesareboughtandsold,thoughcomparativelyfewaredirectlyconcernedwiththeiractivities.Again,thereareotherimportantbutlessfamiliarfinancialmarkets,likethemoneymarketinwhichlargesumsareborrowedandlentforveryshortperiods,andtheforeignexchangemarketinwhichdealingsinforeigncurrenciestakeplace.Allthesefinancialinstitutionsandmarketsfittogetherintoanetworkwhichcomprisesthefinancialsystem.

Otherfinancialinstitutions,suchasinvestmenttrusts,venturecapitalcompanies,anddiscounthouses-----tonameonlyafew-----arelesswell-knownandcarryoutmorespecializedfunctions.

Mostpeoplealsoknowsomethingaboutfinancialmarkets,liketheStockExchangewheresecuritiesareboughtandsold,thoughcomparativelyfeware