全国高等农林院校“十一五”规划教材-英语阅读上册--课文三单元

1、全国高等农林院校“十一五” 规划教材-英语阅读上册-第三单元:Crisis in confidence: The China factor2009-12-26 22:11Crisis in confidence: The China factor By Francesco Sisci （1）The crisis in confidence in the US economy triggered by the creative accounting scandals involving Enron and others has highlighted important differences in the worlds two most powerful economies, the United States and Europe. But another emerging economic giant looms in Asia, and it is clear that here, too, confidence is the key. Here, however, securi

2、ty is the concern, and not so much misleading profit-and-loss figures. （2）In the United States, creative accounting permitted traditional companies to show performances similar to those in the new high-tech economy and thus compete with Microsoft and its peers for a share of investment from an ever-greedier public. （3）In this way, one could see the Enron case and the others as byproducts of the new economy. As the new companies showed performances and potentials that were crowding out the tradit

3、ional companies, the latter lost investment on the stock market. To compete and stay afloat in a world of fast-shifting investment, the traditional companies had to improve their performance. To do that they had to streamline their business and make it more rewarding for the stockholder, who would otherwise shift his investment into new-economy stocks. （4）Furthermore, the new economy promised new avenues of growth, promises fueled by the uncertainty surrounding the real long-term effects of the

4、computer revolution. Although no one could calculate how much efficiency would improve, everyone assumed such improvements would show up on the balance sheets sooner or later. The lack of clear calculations made the atmosphere heady and investors got carried away, as capitalists tend to do when they smell a period of strong growth. But when streamlining and consolidation failed to provide the numbers needed to lure greedy investors, business leaders concocted new accounting devices. （5） When the

5、 new-economy bubble burst, overall enthusiasm waned and as the flood receded it not only left the lesser new-economy companies stranded, but it also revealed the faults of new-economy accounting. The public felt cheated twice, once by the new economy that had (partly, to be fair) failed to deliver as much as it promised, and then a second time by Enron and its companions that had misrepresented the numbers. The sense of being cheated was compounded by Arthur Andersen, an accounting company that

6、was supposed to check the numbers but instead covered them up; the events of September 11 further shook confidence, because they made the United States fear it could be attacked and brought to its knees. （6）This is the essence of the failure of confidence US Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan in his recent testimony to Congress spoke about, and this is the reason for the failure of the dollar vis-vis the euro. According to figures, the US economy still outperforms the European economy at th

7、e moment, but are these figures true? Investors asked that question as they became more confident in the European economy, which had little or no experience with the new economy and creative accounting, and which had endured terrorism for decades without any September 11-type nervous breakdown. （7） In a sentence: the US economy proved more volatile, for internal and external reasons, while the European one proved more resilient. （8） That said, it is also true that the European market lacks the U

8、S markets ability to face its ghosts, be it the new economy, creative accounting or terrorism, and to bounce back: its volatility is also vitality. No failures in a technology-based economy or accounting have occurred in Europe, yet no technological leaps have taken place either. Despite the failures of new accounting, Americas fresh ways of doing business, when not taken to the extreme, made it possible to see the potential of new business and growth; and it forced businesses to look for resour

9、ces inside and outside the company in order to reap this potential. Little of the kind happened in Europe. （9） Moreover, when confronted by external threats, such as terrorism or the escalation of war in the Balkans, Europe as a cohesive entity did little by itself; it either sent for US help, or each European government acted on its own. Neither actions served to support the regional currency, the euro, designed to cover almost the whole continent. The euro has no army or police to defend it and so, when under attack, it must call Washington or the headquarters of the governments of the former mark, franc or lira. In such a scenario the euro would surely plummet and the dollar rise again. （10） The lack of European political unity is reflected in the lack of continental companies. The European companies are German or French or Italian and, if they do merge abroad, it is often with US companies, a marriage less feared than one with another, foreign European compa

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