Americans Receive 5 Billion Robocalls Every Year

美国人每年收到50亿个自动语音电话

There has been a huge increase in the number of unwanted calls ,they’ve more than doubled since 2016.

美国人接到骚扰电话的数量大幅增加，2016年以来这一数量已经增加了一倍以上。

But on Thursday, big phone companies like AT&T and Verizon struck an agreement with state attorneys general to combat robo calls. That means telecom giants will be working on stopping the calls from being placed and helping law enforcement trace them. They will also provide free call blocking to consumers.

但周四（8月22日），AT＆T和Verizon等大型电话公司和州检察长达成协议，计划应对自动语音电话的问题。这意味着这些电信巨头将阻止这类电话的拨出，并帮助执法部门追踪来源。这些公司还将为消费者提供免费电话拦截服务。

One potential problem? The agreement doesn’t include small, internet-base carriers—and that’s where big chunks of robocall activity originate.

一个潜在的问题是，该协议不包括小型互联网电信运营商——而这些公司才是大量自动语音电话的来源。

Global Economic Growth is Projected to Be 2.8%

预计第四季度全球经济增幅为2.8％

—in the fourth quarter. That’s according to economists at Morgan Stanley. It would be a significant slowdown from the beginning of the year. The projected slump is based on an assumption of the U.S.-China trade war continuing, with global growth staying under 3% until the second quarter of 2020.

这是摩根士丹利(Morgan Stanley)经济学家的预测。和今年年初的增长水平相比，这意味着全球经济增速将显着放缓。这一预期的假设前提是中美贸易争端持续得不到化解。预计在2020年第二季度之前，全球经济增幅都将维持在3％以下。

But the consequences may not be that far out in the future: The economists say that weakness is already spreading to non-manufacturing sectors, labor markets, and consumption across the world.

然而这样的预期带来的影响已经正在显现：经济学家们称，疲软势头已经蔓延至全球非制造业、劳动力市场和消费领域。

Shares of Overstock.com Rose 8% on Thursday

Overstock.com股价上周四（8月22日）上涨8％

The jump came after its chief executive, Patrick Bryne, said he was resigning. His departure may be the end of a strange saga: Last week, the company issued a press release titled “Overstock.com C.E.O. Comments on Deep State, Withholds Further Comment.”

该股上涨是因为公司首席执行官帕特里克·布莱恩(Patrick Bryne)宣布自己将辞职。他的离职可能为和该公司有关的一桩奇怪事件画上了句号：上周，该公司发布了一份名为《Overstock.com CEO有关“深层势力集团”(Deep State)的评论，不予发表更多评论》(Overstock.com CEO Comments on Deep State, Withholds Further Comment)的新闻稿。

The press release went on to disclose that Bryne had been a witness in Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation after having a romantic relationship with a woman accused of being a Russian intelligence agent. After that disclosure, the company’s shares plunged.

新闻稿披露，在与一名被指控为俄罗斯情报人员的女性发生浪漫关系后，布莱恩就一直担任特别顾问罗伯特·穆勒(Robert Mueller)“通俄门”调查的证人。该消息披露后，Overstock.com股价暴跌。

翻译 | Anqi

版权声明：

《巴伦》(barronschina) 原创文章，未经许可，不得转载。英文版见2019年8月23日报道“Podcast: 5 Million Robocalls, and Two More Numbers to Know”。

（本文内容仅供参考，投资建议不代表《巴伦》倾向；市场有风险，投资须谨慎。）