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A Lighter Ball and Chain,The Economist,June 22ed,2013
鎖鏈更輕了，經濟學人，2013年6月22日
During the boom years, Americans borrowed and binged.
在經濟繁榮的年代，美國人大量貸款與放貸。
The hangover has been long and throbbing,
這樣的后遺癥持續時間長，而且不穩定，
but after five years of water and aspirin, household finances are looking healthier.
但經過五年的處理和治療，家庭財務狀況正逐步好轉。
In the fourth quarter of 2012 the average "debt-service ratio" for American households fell to its lowest level since records began in 1980.
2012年第四季度美國家庭的平均"債務償還比率"跌至自1980年記錄以來最低水平。
That is, households were spending less of their disposable income on paying interest on mortgages,
這意味著，美國家庭已減少他們在抵押貸款的利息、
consumer loans and other types of credit than at any point in the past three decades.
消費貸款和其他類型的信貸方面的可支配收入，這比過去三年任一類型的支出都要少。
New figures released by the Federal Reserve show a small rise in the first quarter of 2013，
最新公布的數據顯示，美聯儲在2013年第一季度有小幅度上升，
but the household debt-service burden appears to have bottomed out.
但家庭的債務負擔似乎已達到最低限度了。
People have been paying down unmanageable old debts and taking out fewer and smaller ew loans.
人們已經將猶如一團亂麻的舊債還清，并且采用既少且小的新貸款。
Rising house prices have also helped homeowners, at least recently.
房價的上升對私房房主也有一定的幫助，至少目前還在獲利。
CoreLogic, a research firm, reports that 1.7m households have escaped negative equity over the past year,
CoreLogic，一家研究公司報告指出，在過去的一年里，有170萬家庭解決了負資產，
the value of their home now exceeds their mortgage debt.
即他們房屋的市值已經超過他們抵押的債務。
Remarkably, household net worth, at $70.3 trillion,
神奇的是，家庭凈資產達到了70.3萬億美元，
has hit an all time high (though relative to the overall economy it remains below levels in previous booms).Thank you.
也創下了新高（盡管整體經濟狀況仍低于以前經濟繁榮時期）。謝謝。
