[ti:Online Dictionary says Austerity Tops 2010 Words ] [ar:Steve Ember] [al:Economics Report] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]This is the VOA Special English [00:02.84]Economics Report. [00:04.93]December is a time of holiday [00:07.27]gift-giving and strong business [00:10.31]activity in many places. [00:12.95]But this year, a different idea [00:15.68]is weighing on the minds of people [00:18.47]in many countries: austerity. [00:21.65]This week, publisher Merriam-Webster [00:24.70]released its list of top ten words [00:28.23]of the year for two thousand ten. [00:31.12]And "austerity" was at the top. [00:34.32]The company made its list based [00:37.40]on how often people looked up [00:40.09]definitions using its online dictionary. [00:43.92]Merriam-Webster defines "austerity" [00:47.15]as "enforced or extreme economy." [00:51.19]Greece and Ireland [00:53.53]face huge budget deficits. [00:56.27]This has forced severe spending [00:59.52]cuts for those governments. [01:01.31]And they are not alone. [01:04.00]When nations get into [01:06.04]financial trouble, they may [01:08.23]request loans from the [01:10.12]International Monetary Fund [01:12.60]or other donors. [01:14.20]Donors, however, demand [01:16.99]austerity measures such [01:19.53]as sharp cuts in government [01:21.67]spending and tax increases. [01:24.41]Michael Izza is chief executive [01:27.89]of the Institute [01:28.99]of Chartered Accountants [01:30.63]in England and Wales. [01:33.17]He says the world financial crisis [01:36.75]pushed some governments to spend more. [01:40.19]But not all debt problems are the same. [01:44.37]Economist Dev Kar says [01:47.35]Greece got into trouble by having [01:50.74]too many government employees, [01:53.22]spending freely on retirement pay [01:57.01]and misleading investors. [02:00.49]Last spring, [02:01.98]Greece received rescue loans [02:04.52]of over one hundred billion dollars. [02:07.51]But Germany agreed to help only [02:11.39]if Greece promised [02:13.18]tough austerity measures. [02:15.27]Ireland's budget deficits [02:18.41]grew sharply after it guaranteed [02:21.39]the bad loans of the country's [02:24.13]biggest banks. [02:25.97]In November, European officials [02:28.91]agreed to a bailout nearly [02:31.59]as large as the one Greece received. [02:35.13]But austerity measures are unpopular. [02:38.91]Large protests have taken place [02:41.75]not only in Greece and Ireland, [02:44.28]but also in Britain, [02:46.17]Portugal and Romania. [02:48.41]Other nations facing big deficits [02:51.60]and slow economic growth are also [02:54.94]seeing their borrowing costs rise. [02:58.08]Credit rating agencies are warning [03:01.66]about the debts of Portugal [03:04.05]and Spain and others may follow. [03:07.48]In May, European leaders agreed [03:11.42]to set aside nearly seven hundred [03:14.41]billion dollars to help [03:16.80]troubled countries in the area. [03:19.54]But the chief of the International [03:22.53]Monetary Fund, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, says [03:26.36]a more organized approach is needed. [03:29.70]DOMINIQUE STRAUSS-KAHN: "Europe has to provide, [03:32.64]the euro zone has to provide, [03:35.42]a comprehensive solution to this problem. [03:38.61]The piecemeal approach, [03:40.15]one country after the other one, [03:42.84]is not a good one." [03:43.68]This could mean "austerity" will remain [03:46.43]a top word for two thousand eleven. [03:49.71]And that's the VOA Special English [03:52.80]Economics Report, [03:54.24]written by Mario Ritter. [03:56.20]I'm Steve Ember.