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  3. Man is born free but is everywhere in debt. In the rich world, getting hold of your first credit card is a rite of passage far m

Man is born free but is everywhere in debt. In the rich world, getting hold of your first credit card is a rite of passage far m

admin2021-02-21  91
问题     Man is born free but is everywhere in debt. In the rich world, getting hold of your first credit card is a rite of passage far more important for your daily life than casting your first vote. Buying your first home normally requires taking on a debt several times the size of your annual income. And even if you shun the temptation of borrowing to indulge yourself, you are still saddled with your portion of the national debt.
    Throughout the 1980s and 1990s a rise in debt levels accompanied the "great moderation", when growth was steady and unemployment and inflation remained low. No longer did Western banks have to raise rates to halt consumer booms. By the early 2000s a vast international scheme of vendor financing had been created. Those who cautioned against rising debt levels were dismissed as doom-mongers; after all, asset prices were rising even faster, so balance-sheets looked healthy. And with the economy advancing, debtors could afford to meet their interest payments. In short, it paid to borrow and it paid to lend. Like alcohol, a debt boom tends to induce euphoria. Traders and investors saw the asset-price rises as proof of their brilliance; central banks and governments thought that rising markets and higher tax revenues attested to the soundness of their policies.
    The answer to all problems seemed to be more debt. Depressed? Use your credit card for a shopping spree "because you’re worth it". Want to get rich quick? Work for a private-equity or hedge-fund firm, using borrowed money to enhance returns. Looking for faster growth for your company? Borrow money and make an acquisition. And if the economy is in recession, let the government go into deficit to bolster spending.
    Debt increased at every level, from consumers to companies to banks to whole countries. The effect varied from country to country, but a survey by the McKinsey Global Institute found that average total debt(private and public sector combined)in ten mature economies rose from 200% of GDP in 1995 to 300% in 2008. There were even more startling rises in Iceland and Ireland, where debt-to-GDP ratios reached 1,200% and 700% respectively. The burdens proved too much for those two countries, plunging them into financial crisis. Such turmoil is a sign that debt is not the instant solution it was made out to be.
    From early 2007 onwards there were signs that economies were reaching the limit of their ability to absorb more borrowing. The growth-boosting potential of debt seemed to peter out. According to Leigh Skene of Lombard Street Research, each additional dollar of debt was associated with less and less growth.
The examples of Iceland and Ireland are intended to show that
选项 A、the effect of debt differs in each country.
B、the two countries have the highest debt rise.
C、debt isn’t always an instant solution as believed.
D、debt rise is the origin of the financial crisis.
答案C
解析 例证细节题。根据题干中的Iceland and Ireland定位到文章第四段。由该段最后一句话可知，举债并不能立竿见影地解决任何问题，故C项正确。
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