为什么美债十年期利率这么重要? | 四级难度

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为什么美债十年期利率这么重要?
难度：四级难度
The U.S. government needs money to operate.
美国政府运转需要资金。
A lot of that money comes from taxes.
其中很大一部分资金来自税收。
However, much of the money the U.S. government uses to pay its costs comes from borrowing in the form of U.S. Treasury securities.
然而，美国政府用于支付花销的大部分资金来自以美国国债形式借入的资金。
Investors, who believe the U.S. government will be able to pay them back, agree to loan the government money for a period of time.
相信美国政府将有能力偿还债务的投资者同意在一段时间内借给政府资金。
They receive interest payments regularly or in a way set by the Treasury.
他们定期或以财政部规定的方式收到利息。
The difference between the loan amount and the investment return is called the yield.
贷款金额和投资回报之间的差额称为利润。
In past years, the interest rate on the U.S. government 10-year note was low.
在过去的几年里，美国政府10年期国债的利率很低。
For example, when the COVID-19 pandemic started, the interest rate for a 10-year government debt security was less than one percent.
例如，当新冠疫情开始时，10年期政府债务证券的利率不到1%。
If you loaned the U.S. government $100, you would receive about one dollar a year in interest until the note "matures," or is paid back.
如果你借给美国政府100美元，你每年将会得到大约1美元的利息，直到债券“到期”或得到偿还。
Now, however, the yield has jumped to about five percent for a 10-year note.
然而，现在10年期国债的收益率已跃升至5%左右。
A note is a debt security with a term of between two and 10 years.
note指的是一种期限为两年到十年的债务证券。
That means investors who agree to lend money to the U.S. government for a period of 10 years will earn about a five percent return each year.
这意味着，同意借钱给美国政府10年的投资者每年将会获得约5%的回报。
That sounds good for investors.
这听起来对投资者来说是个好消息。
But everyone is not happy about it.
但并不是每个人都对此感到高兴。
The reason is that many other interest rates are tied to the U.S. rate for the 10-year note.
原因是许多其他利率与美国10年期国债的利率挂钩。
In a recent report, the Associated Press called the 10-year note "the centerpiece of the global financial system."
在最近的一份报告中，美联社称10年期美国国债是“全球金融体系的核心”。
Many mortgage rates, the interest rates people pay for their home loans, are connected to the 10-year note.
许多按揭贷款利率，即人们为住房贷款支付的利率，都与10年期美国债券有关。
As a result, borrowing money becomes more costly.
因此，借贷成本变得更高。
Over the life of a 30-year home mortgage agreement, a homeowner could pay hundreds of thousands of dollars more in interest than just two or three years ago.
在一份30年的房屋抵押贷款协议的有效期内，房主可能要比两三年前多支付数十万美元的利息。
In addition, the high rates on the 10-year note make it harder for some new businesses to grow.
此外，10年期美国国债的高利率加大了一些新公司发展的难度。
A young business often does not make money.
年轻的企业往往赚不到钱。
But if it wants to hire new people or create a new product, it will often take out a loan from a bank or agree to pay investors interest.
但如果它想雇佣新员工或开发新产品，它通常会向银行贷款，或者同意向投资者支付利息。
Since the financial crisis of 2008, the cost of these loans has mainly been very low – only a little higher than zero percent interest.
自2008年金融危机以来，这些贷款的成本大多非常低，只比零利率高一点。
The low rates permitted many companies to borrow money at a low cost.
低利率使许多公司能够以低成本借到资金。
Many of the world's economies that were struggling recovered because of the low rates.
世界上许多陷入困境的经济体都因为低利率而复苏。
Individual investors bought stocks because they did not see a large cost to borrow money.
个人投资者之所以买入股票，是因为他们认为借钱的成本不高。
They did not see U.S. Treasury securities as a good investment because their interest rates were so low.
他们认为美国国债不是一种好的投资，因为它们的利率太低了。
But now, interest rates are rising.
但现在，利率正在上升。
As a result, some businesses are choosing not to expand.
因此，一些企业选择不扩大规模。
Some are even reducing their workforce in order to reduce operating costs.
有些公司甚至为了降低运营成本而裁员。
The cost of living increased quickly once many countries re-opened after the pandemic.
疫情过后，许多国家重新开放后，生活成本迅速上升。
Cars, food and energy prices all went higher.
汽车、食品和能源价格都上涨了。
The war in Ukraine reduced the food and energy supply in Europe and Africa, so those costs increased for Europeans and Africans.
乌克兰战争减少了欧洲和非洲的食品和能源供应，因此对欧洲人和非洲人来说，食品和能源成本增加了。
Many people found that the usual amount of money did not buy the usual amount of goods.
许多人发现，用往常同样多的钱却买不到往常相同数量的商品。
That is called inflation.
这就是所谓的通货膨胀。
In some countries, the price of food and energy doubled in a short time.
在一些国家，食品和能源价格在短时间内翻了一番。
Home prices increased because many people decided they needed more space if they were going to do their jobs from home.
房价上涨是因为许多人认为，如果他们要在家办公，他们需要更多的空间。
The fast inflation concerned government banks around the world.
快速的通货膨胀令世界各地的政府银行感到担忧。
In countries such as the U.S. and areas like Europe, central banks decided to raise the interest rates they control as a way to reduce, or slow, inflation.
在美国等国家和欧洲等地区，央行决定提高其控制的利率，以此来降低或减缓通胀。
Central bankers believe that increasing interest rates can keep people and businesses from spending too much money.
央行官员认为，提高利率可以防止个人和企业支出过多。
To a point, the plan has worked.
在某种程度上，该计划已经奏效。
In the U.S., some data shows inflation is slowing.
在美国，一些数据显示通胀正在放缓。
Economists who study the U.S. have been surprised that the economy stayed strong even as interest rates for Treasury securities have increased.
在美国国债利率上升的情况下，美国经济依然保持强劲，这让研究美国的经济学家感到惊讶。
People are still spending money and the employment rate is high.
人们仍在消费，就业率也很高。
But some investors are thinking that a yield of about 5 percent is better than putting money into stocks that might lose value.
但一些投资者认为，5%左右的收益率比把钱投入可能会贬值的股票要好。
As a result, stocks prices have dropped since the summer.
因此，股票价格自今年夏天以来一直在下跌。
Because U.S. Treasury securities are not a high-risk investment, the U.S. dollar has gotten stronger compared to the Euro, the British pound and the Australian dollar.
由于美国国债不是一种高风险投资，美元相对于欧元、英镑和澳元走强。
High interest rates also hurt some investors who decided to put their money in safe U.S. Treasury securities five or 10 years ago.
高利率也伤害了一些在五年或十年前决定将资金投入安全的美国国债的投资者。
If those investors purchased bonds paying a lower interest rate than today, they would lose money if they tried to sell those securities on the open market now.
如果这些投资者以低于目前的利率购买债券，如果他们现在试图在公开市场上出售这些债券，他们将会蒙受损失。
One large investment fund that purchases U.S. debt securities with different terms has lost three percent of its value this year.
一家购买不同期限美国债券的大型投资基金今年贬值3%。
If this situation continues, the fund is on track to lose value for the third year in a row.
如果这种情况持续下去，该基金将会连续第三年贬值。
I'm Dan Friedell. And I'm Caty Weaver.
丹·弗里德尔、凯蒂·韦弗为您共同播报。