A Lighter Ball and Chain,The Economist,June 22ed,2013
锁链更轻了，经济学人，2013年6月22日
During the boom years, Americans borrowed and binged.
在经济繁荣的年代，美国人大量贷款与放贷。
The hangover has been long and throbbing,
这样的后遗症持续时间长，而且不稳定，
but after five years of water and aspirin, household finances are looking healthier.
但经过五年的处理和治疗，家庭财务状况正逐步好转。
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年第四季度美国家庭的平均"债务偿还比率"跌至自1980年记录以来最低水平。
That is, households were spending less of their disposable income on paying interest on mortgages,
这意味着，美国家庭已减少他们在抵押贷款的利息、
consumer loans and other types of credit than at any point in the past three decades.
消费贷款和其他类型的信贷方面的可支配收入，这比过去三年任一类型的支出都要少。

New figures released by the Federal Reserve show a small rise in the first quarter of 2013，
最新公布的数据显示，美联储在2013年第一季度有小幅度上升，
but the household debt-service burden appears to have bottomed out.
但家庭的债务负担似乎已达到最低限度了。
People have been paying down unmanageable old debts and taking out fewer and smaller ew loans.
人们已经将犹如一团乱麻的旧债还清，并且采用既少且小的新贷款。
Rising house prices have also helped homeowners, at least recently.
房价的上升对私房房主也有一定的帮助，至少目前还在获利。
CoreLogic, a research firm, reports that 1.7m households have escaped negative equity over the past year,
CoreLogic，一家研究公司报告指出，在过去的一年里，有170万家庭解决了负资产，
the value of their home now exceeds their mortgage debt.
即他们房屋的市值已经超过他们抵押的债务。
Remarkably, household net worth, at $70.3 trillion,
神奇的是，家庭净资产达到了70.3万亿美元，
has hit an all time high (though relative to the overall economy it remains below levels in previous booms).Thank you.
也创下了新高（尽管整体经济状况仍低于以前经济繁荣时期）。谢谢。