backstop, top-flight, 3D printer, Makers

3D printers can't compete on cost and efficiency with huge assembly lines, but they give American manufacturing a nimble, local backstop


ECONOMIST.COM
Makers across America are helping to alleviate the PPE shortage
A valiant attempt to compensate for the federal government’s failure




Arguably, the only reason they haven’t already failed is that the government is acting as a backstop, implicitly guaranteeing their obligations. But they’re zombie banks, unable to supply the credit the economy needs.

The United States and six other nations agreed to a plan to rescue the financial industry, but fell short of offering concrete steps to backstop bank lending.


The humbling moves, which reshape the landscape of American finance, followed a feverish weekend of brinksmanship and emergency meetings attended by a Who's Who of Wall Street. With the government refusing to backstop a Lehman bailout, potential suitors walked away, and traders rushed to work to try to make sure they were out of their Lehman positions.



In each case, the suitors are seeking help from the Federal Reserve to help make an acquisition palatable. They want the Fed to guarantee a part of Lehman's troubled assets, similar to the way it backstopped the emergency sale of another foundering bank, Bear Stearns, in March.

Blockbuster made an unsolicited offer to acquire Circuit City for up to $1.35 billion in cash, but Circuit City said it has concerns about Blockbuster's ability to finance the deal. Activist investor and Blockbuster director Carl Icahn has offered to backstop the deal.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other lawmakers called on the administration to use the Treasury’s bigger financial system stabilization fund to but there may not be enough money left to do so. About $15 billion remains of the initial $350 billion disbursed by Congress and Treasury officials have said that money is needed as a backstop for existing programs.




backstop
n.

1. Sports. A screen or fence used to prevent a ball from being thrown or hit far out of a playing area, as in baseball.【棒】擋球網
2. Baseball. A catcher.
3. Something that supports or bolsters.

tr.v., -stopped, -stop·ping, -stops.

1. To serve as a backstop for.
2. 1. To support or bolster: “The firm lacks a topflight strategic-consulting arm to backstop its technology gurus” (Alex Beam).
   2. To substitute for (another) in an emergency.

backstop
(băk'stŏp')
n.

1. Sports. A screen or fence used to prevent a ball from being thrown or hit far out of a playing area, as in baseball.
2. Baseball. A catcher.
3. Something that supports or bolsters.

tr.v., -stopped, -stop·ping, -stops.

1. To serve as a backstop for.
2. 1. To support or bolster: “The firm lacks a topflight strategic-consulting arm to backstop its technology gurus” (Alex Beam).
   2. To substitute for (another) in an emergency.

n. - 擋球網, 捕手
v. tr. - 擋住, 止住, 增援, 加強
n. - バックネット


top-flight
adjective [before noun]
highest in standard or quality:

He's one of our top-flight engineers.