A listener from Indonesia named Sundi (Efendy) asks why the Federal Reserve is so important and how it works. This week offered a good example

一位来自印度尼西亚的听众 Efendy 问到，为什么联邦储备很重要，其又是怎样工作的？这周提供了一个好的例子。

On Tuesday the committee lowers (lowered) its target for the federal funds rate to 4 and 3-quarters percent. This rate is what banks pay other banks to borrow money overnight. It was the first cut in four years. Major banks including Bank of American,*Wachovia and Wealth bugle (Wells Fargo) soon followed with cuts in their prime rate. This is what banks charged their best customs (customers).

周二，委员会将联邦基金降低了 4.75 个百分点。该利率是银行向其他银行日借款利率。这是四年来首次降息。包括美国银行、 Wachovia 以及 Wells Fargo 在内的主要银行随后降低了他们的主要利率。这是银行向他们最好的顾客收取的利息。

Financial markets expected a rate cut from the feed (Fed). But the size-- 50 bases points or half a percentage point--was double what many people expected. And it persuaded many that the feed(Fed) is more concerned about the possibility of a recession than about inflation.

金融市场预计联邦会下调汇率。但是，其幅度达 50 个百分点，这比人们预计的多了一倍。这更说明，联邦政府更关心经济萧条而非通货膨胀。

Such concerns rose earlier this month on news that in August the economy lost jobs for the first time in four years.  That added to worries about the housing finance crisis.

早在 8 月，已经有出现这样的想法了，因为四年来，经济第一次失控。这也增加了人们对地产金融危机的担心。   

总结：

经济类的，又听的不大好。 >_<

翻译：经济实在不大理解，不知道自己说的什么？？