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经济速成班 第10课:货币和金融

来源:可可英语 编辑:Alisa   可可英语APP下载 |  可可官方微信:ikekenet

Welcome to Crash Course Economics. I'm Adriene Hill.

欢迎收看经济速成班,我是埃德因·希尔。
And I'm Jacob Clifford. And today we're gonna talk about money and finance.
我是雅各布·克利福德。我们今天要讨论货币和金融。
I know we said in the first episode that economics isn't really about money.
我们在第一集说过,经济学与钱没多大关系。
No, economics isn't about getting rich quick.
不是这样说的,经济学不是快速致富的法宝。
But it all boils down to trading the things you have for the things you want.
但都归结于交易,用你拥有的东西交换你想要的东西。
Like I've got this giant zucchini, but I love that piece of pizza. Wanna trade? No way!
比如我有个大西葫芦,但我喜欢那块披萨,想换吗?没门!
Imagine you live in a world without money, and you're a dentist that wants to go buy a car.
想象一下,你生活在一个没有货币的世界里,你是个牙医,想买一辆车。
First you need to find a bunch of auto workers who need dental work.
首先,你需要找到一群需要牙科治疗的汽车工人。
And if these workers don't want dental services
如果这些工人不需要牙医服务,
and prefer being paid in something else like flat-screen TVs,
而喜欢别人用平面电视来支付,
then you have to find TV manufacturers that have toothaches.
那么你不得不找牙疼的电视制造商。
Try posting that on Craigslist!
试着在克雷格网站上发帖!
This is called the Barter System, and it takes a lot of time and energy.
这叫做物物交换制,它需要大量的时间和精力。
Of course, many people still barter for stuff,
当然,很多人仍然会物物交换,
but for most transactions, we use money, which is a way more efficient way to do business.
但我们的大部分交易都用货币,这是更有效的经商方式。
The people who really need dental care will pay you with money, which you can now use to buy a car.
那些真正需要牙科治疗的人会用货币付你,而你可以用这些钱买车。
Economists point out that money serves three main purposes.
经济学家指出,货币有三个主要功能。
First, it acts as a Medium of Exchange.
首先,它是一种交换媒介。
It's generally accepted for payment for goods and services.
它通常被公认用于支付货物和服务。
Now, that medium of exchange means we're not stuck in the barter system.
这种交换媒介意味着我们没有困在物物交换制中。
Next, money can be used as a store of value.
其次,货币可以用作价值储存手段。
The reason why a dentist doesn't usually accept fruit or baked goods
牙医通常不接受水果或烘焙食品的原因
is because you can't save those things up to go buy things like cars.
是这些东西不能像汽车等物一样被保存起来。
Plus, bananas go bad pretty quickly in a safe deposit box.
而且香蕉在保险箱里很快就坏了。
Money also services as a Unit of Account.
货币也可以作为记账单位。
We don't measure the value of cars in bananas, muffins, or root canals.
我们不能用香蕉、松饼或根管来衡量汽车的价值。
Instead, we use money because it's a standardized metric
相反,我们使用货币,因为它是标准度量,
that allows us to measure the relative value of things.
能让我们衡量事物的相对价值。
Most people assume that money is just cash and coins, issued and endorsed by a government.
大多数人认为货币只是政府发行和认可的现金和硬币。
Coins have been used for thousands of years,
硬币已经用了几千年了,
and they're a great example of money,
它们是货币的优秀例子,
but technically money is anything that's used as a medium of exchange.
但从技术上讲,货币可以是用来作交换媒介的任何东西。
For example, cigarettes were used as money in prisons until smoking bans were put in place.
比如,实行禁烟令之前,香烟在监狱里被用作货币。
Nowadays, prisoners use postage stamps and even small packages of mackerel as currency.
如今,囚犯们使用邮票、甚至小包装的鲭鱼作为货币。
Animals like cattle and sheep, also sacs of grain, all these have been used as money.
牛羊之类的动物、谷物囊,都曾被用作货币。
Some societies even used feathers or shells.
有些社会甚至使用过羽毛或贝壳。
The indigenous people on Yap Island in the Pacific Ocean used money called rai stones.
太平洋雅浦岛上的土著人用的货币叫做雅浦岛石币。
These were large donut-shaped disks made out of limestone.
这些巨大的环状圆盘是由石灰石制成的。
The largest ones are around 10 feet wide and weigh four tons.
最大的一个大约10英尺宽,重4吨。
The point is what economists consider money is anything that's accepted as a medium of exchange.
问题是,经济学家认为货币是被公认作为交换媒介的任何东西。
And that's changed a lot over time.
并且随时间改变。
Today, cash and coins are often used as money
如今,现金和硬币经常被用作货币,
since they're easy to carry around, physically durable, and hard to counterfeit.
因为它们很容易携带、结实耐用、不易伪造。
But a lot of money today doesn't end up in anyone's pocket or wallet or duffel bags or even wheelbarrows.
但是,现在的很多钱没在任何人的口袋、钱包、行李袋,甚至手推车里。
It moves around electronically.
它以电子化的方式流转。
Increasingly, people get paid in the form of checks or direct deposits into their bank.
人们越来越多地以支票或把钱直接存入银行的形式获得报酬。
A lot of our money isn't physical. It's digital. It exists on some bank's computer.
我们的很多钱都不是物质化的,而是电子化的,它存在于某些银行的计算机上。
And as long as that computer is secure
只要计算机安全,
and the zombie apocalypse doesn't permanently knock out the power
那么丧尸危机就不能长久地摧毁力量,
and your nation's monetary system is functioning as it should,
国家的货币体系就能正常运行,
those electronic dollars do all the things they're supposed to do.
这些电子货币也能各司其职了。

money.png

Another form of digital money that you often hear about is Bitcoin.

你经常听说的另一种数字货币是比特币。
Bitcoin is a digital currency that is not issued or regulated by a specific country.
比特币是一种数字货币,它不是由某个特定国家发行或监管的。
But since some people accept it as payment, many economists consider it money.
但由于一些人接受它作为支付方式,许多经济学家认为它是货币。
Unlike other electronic currency, Bitcoin doesn't involve a bank,
与其他电子货币不同,比特币不涉及银行,
so people can (in theory) buy things more anonymously.
所以人们可以(理论上)以匿名方式购买更多东西。
This appeals to people who don't trust central banks and also people who want to buy illegal stuff online.
这对那些不信任中央银行以及想网上购买非法物品的人来说很有吸引力。
That illegal trade means law enforcement and regulators are also very interested in Bitcoin.
这种非法交易意味着执法部门和监管机构也对比特币非常感兴趣。
Bitcoin isn't only for internet drug deals though.
然而,比特币不只用于网络毒品交易。
There's a lot of speculation in Bitcoin, meaning people buy up Bitcoins, hoping to turn a profit on them.
人们对比特币有很多猜测,这意味着人们会尽可能多得买进比特币,希望从中获利。
This makes Bitcoin more of a speculative asset
这使得比特币成为一种投机性资产,
and limits its use in buying and selling actual goods and services.
并限制其在买卖实物和服务上的使用。
Could Bitcoin or another digital currency be how everyone pays for things in the future?
比特币或其他数字货币能成为未来每个人的支付方式吗?
Who knows! But if anyone wants to give me 10 Bitcoin for this zucchini, we've got a deal.
天晓得!但如果有人想给我10个比特币换这个西葫芦的话,我们就有了交易。
What makes money valuable?
是什么让货币有价值呢?
There's kind of a glaring question here, what makes these pieces of paper so valuable?
这里有个很明显的问题,什么使得这些纸张如此珍贵?
Well, in the past, each dollar issued by the U.S. government was redeemable for a specific amount of gold.
在过去,美国政府发行的每一美元都可以兑换一定数量的黄金。
That was called the Gold Standard,
这被称为金本位制,
and it meant that the government couldn't issue more money than it had in gold reserves.
这意味着政府不能发行比黄金储备更多的货币。
Back in the 1930's, the U.S. decided to move off the Gold Standard
直到20世纪30年代,美国决定放弃金本位制,
and some people freaked out about not having something tangible to back our money.
有些人害怕没有有形的东西来为货币背书。
But it's important to remember that money,
但重要的是要记住这些货币,
whether it's cash or gold or small pouches of mackerel, is all about confidence.
不管是现金还是黄金、亦或是小袋鲭鱼,都与信心有关。
The Nobel Prize winning economist Milton Friedman said,
诺贝尔经济学奖得主米尔顿·弗里德曼说:
"The pieces of green paper have value because everyone thinks they have value."
“美元有价值是因为每个人都认为它们有价值。”
With that in mind, the Gold Standard or even a mackerel standard,
考虑到这一点,金本位制甚至是鲭鱼本位制
might not make money more valuable or reliable.
可能不会让货币更有价值或更可靠。
A lot of economists agree with this, which is why no country uses the Gold Standard.
许多经济学家都同意这一点,这就是为什么没有一个国家使用金本位制。
There are calls by some politicians to bring it back,
一些政客呼吁将其收回,
but that's probably never gonna happen. Sorry Ron Paul.
但这可能永远不会发生。抱歉,罗恩·保罗。
OK, I know we said economics is not about the stock market.
好的,我知道我们说过经济学与股票市场无关。
But now it's time to explain what it is and why it's important.
但现在是时候解释一下它是什么,以及它为什么重要了。
The stock market is just one piece of something much bigger, the financial system.
股票市场只是更大金融体系的一部分。
To understand the financial system, you need to picture two different groups.
要了解金融体系,你需要了解两个不同的群体。
First, you have Lenders.
首先,你得有贷方。
Sometimes these are corporations with a bunch of cash,
有时这些贷方是有很多现金的公司,
but lenders can also be ordinary households, people like you and me.
但也可能是普通家庭,或你我之类的普通人。
Us regular folks are gonna need money in the future to retire
普通美国人在未来需要钱来退休、
or send our kids to college or go on a vacation to Yap Island.
或者送孩子上大学,或者去雅蒲岛度假。
So we need a way to turn the money we have now into more money in the future.
因此,我们需要一种方法,让我们现在拥有的钱在未来变得更多。
The second group is Borrowers.
第二组是借方。
There are several different kinds of borrowers.
借方有几种不同的类型。
First you have other households who want to borrow money to buy stuff like a car or a house.
第一种,想借钱买车房等东西的其他家庭。
You also have businesses that have a great idea for a new product, but have a problem.
第二种,有好想法研发新产品、但遇到问题的企业。
They need money to make the product, and they'll have money when the finished products are sold.
它们需要钱来制造产品,当成品出售时就会有钱。
But for now, they need to borrow money to invest in capital,
但是现在,它们需要借钱来做资本投资,
things like machinery, tools, and factories.
比如机器、工具和工厂等。
And they'll pay it back once they make some sales.
他们一旦把东西卖出去了就会还钱。
Basically they need to buy stuff to produce other stuff.
基本上,他们需要买东西来生产其他物品。
Third, you have governments who need to borrow money
第三种,需要借钱的政府,
because they're spending more than they're bringing in.
因为它们的支出大于收入。
So you have lenders who have money now and want to turn it into more money in the future.
现在,你有了有钱的贷方,他们想在未来把钱变得更多。
And you have borrowers who need money now and will repay it in the future.
也有了借方,他们现在需要钱,并会在将来偿还。
The financial system is a network of institutions, markets, and contracts that brings these two groups together.
金融体系是一个由机构、市场和合同组成的网络,将这两类人联系在了一起。
Lenders put money into the financial system, which loans it out to borrowers.
贷方将资金投入金融体系,后者将其贷给借方。
These borrowers pay back those loans with interest, which makes it worth the lender's time.
借方用利息偿还贷款,使得它等值于贷方的时间。
Let's go to the Thought Bubble!
我们去看“Thought Bubble”!
There are three ways this exchange takes place. The first is banks.
这种联系有三种方式。首先是银行。
A lender deposits money in a bank, and then the bank turns around
贷方把钱存入银行,银行进行周转,
and loans that money to a family who wants to buy a house or a business that wants to expand.
把钱贷给想要买房的家庭或者想要扩张的企业。
As those borrowers pay the interest on their loans,
当这些借方支付贷款利息时,
the bank takes part of that money to cover their costs and passes the rest along to the depositor.
银行会拿出一部分钱来支付自己的费用,然后把剩下的钱交给储户。
The second way lenders and borrowers link up is through the Bond Market.
贷方和借方联系的第二种方式是债券市场。
A government or large corporation that needs to borrow money will sell bonds to lenders.
需要借钱的政府或大公司会向贷方出售债券。
A bond is basically an IOU in which the borrower agrees to pay regular interest payments
债券基本上是借方同意支付定期利息的借据,
and promises to repay all of the money back at a set date in the future.
并承诺在未来的某个日期归还所有的钱。
If that lender decides they'd rather have cash now, they're free to sell that bond to another party.
如果贷方决定现在要现金,他们可以自由地把债券卖给另一方。
The third way lenders and borrowers link up is through, you guessed it, the stock market.
贷方和借方联系的第三种方式是通过——你猜到了——股票市场。
Say Jacob and I want to expand our lemonade business, but we don't have the money to do it.
假如雅各布和我想要扩张我们的柠檬水生意,但没有钱,
We could sell stock, which is basically slices of ownership in the company.
那么我们可以卖股票,它基本上是公司所有权的一部分。
Households get the stock, and we get the cash.
家庭得到了股票,我们得到了现金。
If our company profits in the future, and we become lemonade moguls,
如果我们的公司在未来盈利,我们变成了柠檬水的佼佼者,
we'll share some of those profits with the shareholders or the shareholders can sell the stock at a higher price.
我们将与股东分享这些利润,或者股东高价卖出股票。
Either way, they make money if the company's profitable.
不管哪种方法,如果公司盈利,他们都能赚钱。
Thanks Thought Bubble!
感谢“Thought Bubble”!
So banks and bonds have something in common.
所以银行和债券有共同之处。
They're dealing in something called debt.
他们都处理所谓的债务。
If you get a loan from a bank or if you're a government that sells a bond,
如果你从银行贷款或者你是个卖债券的政府,
the amount you must repay is set.
那么你必须偿还的金额是固定的。
In almost all cases, you're obligated to pay back the amount you borrowed with a set amount of interest.
在几乎所有情况下,你都有义务偿还你所借的金额和一笔可观的利息。
Stocks, on the other hand, are known as equity.
另一方面,股票被称为股权。
If a company enjoys high profits, shareholders get more money.
如果公司的利润很高,股东就会得到更多的钱。
If a company goes bankrupt, shareholders may get nothing.
如果公司破产,股东们可能一无所获。
In the news, you'll hear about changes in the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
在新闻中,你会听到道琼斯工业平均指数的变化。
But fluctuations in stock markets are not reliable indicators of how the economy's doing.
但是股票市场的波动并不是经济发展的可靠指标。
Often, changes in the stock market are reactions to real or just perceived changes in economic fundamentals
通常,股票市场的变化是对经济基本面真实或感知变化的反应,
like consumer confidence, the unemployment rate, and GDP growth.
经济基本面包括消费者信心、失业率和GDP增长。
Bonds and stocks also have something in common.
债券和股票也有共同之处。
They're traded on markets for financial instruments.
他们都是市场交易的金融工具。
Bonds are debt instruments, and stocks are equity instruments,
债券是债务工具,股票是股权工具,
but they're both pieces of paper that are traded on markets with many buyers and sellers.
但二者都是市场上诸多卖方买方交易的纸张。
Banks, on the other hand, are financial institutions.
另一方面,银行是金融机构。
With the help of the FDIC,
在联邦存款保险公司(FDIC)的帮助下,
they safeguard our money while making loans to individual households and businesses.
它们在向个人家庭和企业发放贷款的同时保护着我们的钱。
So why do we even need this complicated financial system?
那么,我们为什么需要这个复杂的金融体系呢?
Why don't households take their savings and lend them out directly?
为什么家庭不把他们的储蓄直接借出去呢?
Well, if you want to loan out your life savings to your neighbor
如果你想把自己的毕生积蓄借给邻居,
so he can launch his artisanal smart phone business, go for it!
让他能建立自己的手工智能手机业务,就去做吧!
But that's a pretty risky bet, so you're more likely to use a financial system.
但这是个相当危险的赌注,所以你更有可能使用金融体系。
Financial markets, with instruments like stocks and bonds,
金融市场利用股票、债券等工具
allow borrowers to crowdsource the money they need to borrow.
允许贷方众筹它们需要的资金。
They raise their capital from lots of investors and spread the risk around.
它们从很多投资者那里筹集资金,分散风险。
Banks do the same thing.
银行也做同样的事情。
They accumulate small deposits from thousands of people and use that to make loans.
它们从成千上万的人那里积累小额存款,并用它来发放贷款。
It's like Kickstarter except better because you get money as opposed to an earnest thank you email.
除了更好的之外,它就像Kickstarter,因为你得到了钱,而不是真诚感谢你的电子邮件。
From the lender's point of view,
从贷方的角度来看,
a financial system allows you to spread your savings over dozens or hundreds of different loans.
金融体系允许你把自己的储蓄分散到几十或几百个不同的贷款上。
A few companies might go bankrupt and a few people might not pay back their car loans,
一些公司可能破产,一些人可能不偿还他们的汽车贷款,
but those losses will be offset by borrowers who do pay back their loans.
但这些损失将被偿还贷款的借方所抵消。
You don't have to put all your eggs in one basket.
你不必把所有的鸡蛋放在一个篮子里。
So that's money in the financial system.
这就是金融体系中的钱。
The thing to remember here is that this stuff is not just an abstraction or someone else's concern.
这里要记住的是,这些内容不只是抽象概念或者别人关心的事。
Almost all of us are lenders and borrowers at some point in our lives,
在我们生活的某个阶段,几乎所有人都是贷方和借方,
and understanding lending and borrowing is a big deal.
理解贷款和借贷是件大事。
While it might seem like you're borrowing from a faceless institution,
虽然看起来你是从一个不知名的机构借得钱,
you might be borrowing my money from that faceless institution,
但你可能是从那个不知名的机构借得我的钱,
and I'm gonna need that back if I can't get anyone to accept this zucchini as payment.
如果我不能让任何人买这个西葫芦,我将需要那笔钱回来。
Thanks for watching!
感谢您的收看!
Crash Course Economics was made with the help of all these nice people
经济速成班是由一群好心人制作的。
who believe in some way that there's value in those green pieces of paper.
他们相信那些美元有价值。
Your green piece of paper can help support Crash Course on Patreon.
你的美元可以帮助支持Patreon的速成课程。
You can help keep Crash Course free for everyone, forever.
你可以帮助速成课永远免费对任何人开放。
And you get good rewards.
而且你会得到很好的回报。
Thanks for watching! DFTBA
感谢您的收看!做个了不起的人!

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n. 失业,失业人数

 
wallet ['wɔlit]

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n. 皮夹,钱包

 
cattle ['kætl]

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n. 牛,家畜,畜牲

 

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