2015《经济学人》文艺类文章整合.doc

07.16The best and worst states for small business小本生意的旺市与淡市Red tape blues繁文缛节让人忧郁Small businesses fret less about taxes than over-regulation小本生意担心监管过度问题多过税收IAN TONER, an architect in Philadelphia, recently went to city offices for a permit to build a stoop for a clients home. The city, he learned, had just imposed new requirements:he would have to get maps from gas, electric, water and other utilities to ensure the stoop would not disturb their underground lines and then resubmit his application. A process he thought would take a day took more than two weeks.最近，费城建筑师伊恩托纳前往市政府办公室为其客户获得房屋门廊建设许可证。伊恩了解到，费城刚刚颁布了新的要求：申请者得提交天然气、电气、水气等公司的地图，确保门廊不会影响地下线，然后重新提交申请。他原本以为这个过程只需花费一天，而事实上却花了大概两个礼拜。Thats not all. Other new rules require that he prove that his builder has general liability, workerscompensation and car insurance, and has paid all his taxes. Four times a year he must set aside a half day to ensure he is paying the states and citys myriad taxes correctly. Mr Toner doesnt question the need for rules and taxes; what galls him is the time and hassle involved in complying with them. “The information exists all over the place and the burden is on me not just to gather it but interpret it. Im not going to leave here because of this, but theyre all things that could turn a person off of coming here.”这还不是全部的。其他新的条例要求，申请者还要证明建筑工人享有责任保险、劳工补偿以及汽车保险，并且全部交过税。一年四次，他得留出半天时间来确保他准确支付了州政府以及市政度各种繁杂的税。托纳先生并不是在纠结这些条例和税收的必要性；让他觉得受到羞辱的是遵守背后所花费的时间与麻烦。“信息随处可见，我所承受的压力不仅仅是去收集这些信息，更多的是去解释。我不打算因为这个就离开，但是那些却是阻碍人们来此的力量。”Americas states and cities have traditionally tried to attract businesses by offering them tax breaks and other cash incentives. Yet there may be a more effective way, and one which puts no strain on stretched budgets: make life simpler.沿袭传统，美国的州和城市通过税收减免政策和其他的现金奖励措施来尽量吸引招商。但是，或许还有另外一种更有效的方法，不对紧张的预算施压，即生活更简单。Thumbtack, a website that matches customers to businesses, and the Kauffman Foundation, a think-tank, asks thousands of small businesses annually about local requirements for hiring, regulations, zoning, licences, health insurance and training. They have enough data to compile (somewhat subjective) “business climate” grades for 38 states and 82 cities.美国一家本地服务网上交易市场Thumbtack(图钉)，以及发挥智囊团作用的考夫曼基金会每年会向成百上千小本生意打听情况，询问当地对于招聘、规章制度、分区制、健康保险以及上岗培训的一些要求。他们有足够的数据对美国38个州以及82个城市编译“商业环境”（有点主观）。One surprising finding is how little local tax rates matter. Nearly two-thirds of respondents say they pay their “fair share” of taxes, which the survey-takers reckon means they dont feel over- or undertaxed. But many complain about the difficulty of complying with complex regulations: this was a strong predictor of how small businesses rank their states.令人吃惊的是，当地税收无关痛痒。近六成受访者称，他们支付问卷者认为的不高也不低的税收。但是许多人抱怨遵循复杂法规的难处：这是一个很强烈地预兆，表明了小本生意如何去评价他们所在的州。To be sure, low-tax states such as Texas generally score well, while high-tax states such as California and Illinois flunk their tests. This may be because the kind of politicians who like high taxes also like bossing people around. But not always. Minnesota, a high-tax state, earns a respectable “B” for business climate, partly because it is easy to start a business there. Washington and Florida, both low-tax states, earn a “C” and a “C+”. Entrepreneurs fault Washingtons harsh zoning laws and gripe that in Florida new firms must jump through hoops like dolphins at SeaWorld.可以肯定的是，像德克萨斯州这样低税收的地方通常排名靠前，评价高；相比而言，想加州和伊利诺斯州这样高税收的却未能博得民心。或许是因为喜欢高税收的政治家们很喜欢发号施令。但也有的特例，比如，明尼苏达州税收高，却赢得了一个令人尊敬的“B”级商业环境等级；可能是因为这里创业很容易。像华盛顿和佛罗里达这样低税收的，却分别得了一个“C”和一个“C+”。企业家把责任归咎于华盛顿苛刻的分区制，还抱怨佛罗里达州的新公司就像海洋世界里海豚跳铁圈一样。The lesson for politicians is: “no matter what else you do, make things easy,” says Jon Lieber of Thumbtack. “This may seem obvious but a lot of governments dont do it right. Dont require a plumber to spend two days at city hall pulling permits when he could be doing jobs.”来自图钉的约翰烈博说，政治家得到的教训是：“不管你做了什么，简化它们。”他继续说，“这看起来显而易见，但很多政府官员却无法做到。不要指望水管工会花两天的时间在市政厅请求许可证，特别是在他们还可以做别的事的时候。”Too often, state websites are confusing and bureaucrats unhelpful. Dennis Kessler, an accountant in New Jersey, says he usually cant get through on the telephone to the relevant department. When he does, the information is often misleading or incomplete. He recently spent 30 hours trying to help a client change its corporate status without getting a different federal tax-identification numberonly to discover that this is impossible.州政府网站时常让人费解，而且官僚们常常无所用处。新泽西的会计丹尼斯认为，通常，他无法打通相关部门的电话。当他打通的时候，回馈的信息往往是让人误解的或者不完整。最近，他花了30个小时帮助一名客户在未获得不同的联邦纳税人识别号的情况下去改变法人地位，但最后他发现一切都是徒劳的。Licensing rules are a headache. In theory, they protect the public from incompetence, which is useful if you are hiring a doctor. But increasingly they protect incumbents from competitionthe requirement to have a licence raises an occupations wages by 18%, according to Morris Kleiner and Alan Krueger, two economists. In the 1950s less than 5% of workers required state licences; now 35% do.许可证管理是一件很头痛的事。经济学家莫里斯和奥兰认为，理论上讲，这些制度保障了大众，特别是当你雇佣了一名医生，它们可以避免无能医生。渐渐地，这些制度保护现任者不受竞争力的影响；即对执照的要求使得工资上涨18个百分点。在20世纪50年代，不到5%的工人需要证明，现在增加到35%。Some make no sense. Celeste Kelly, a horse lover, began offering horse massage, a subject she had studied privately, in 2006; she charges $55 per session. In 2012 the Arizona State Veterinary Medical Examining Board ordered her to “cease and desist” or face heavy fines and possible criminal charges. According to the Institute for Justice (IJ), a libertarian law firm which is suing the board on her behalf, Arizona does not require vets to learn massage, and Ms Kelly may offer it for free; she simply cant charge for it unless shes a vet. “Veterinarians I know think its ridiculous,” she complains. “Its their political arm that has crafted legislation to be self-protective.”一些制度纯属无稽之谈。骑马爱好者克莱斯特凯里开始提供为马按摩的服务，这项服务是她于2006年个人研究的；按摩一次55美元。2012年，亚利桑那州兽医医学研究委员会要求凯里停止这项服务，否则将面临高价罚款以及牢狱之灾。据司法部部门，一家持自由论的律师事务所帮助凯里控告该委员会，亚利桑那州并没有要求兽医要学按摩，而且凯里小姐也可能会免费提供该服务；除非她是兽医，不然她不能收费。凯里抱怨道，“我所认识的兽医觉得这很荒唐。这是他们获得自保的政治手段。”State licensing regimes vary widely. Louisiana requires licences for 70% of low-wage occupations, according to IJ, including barber, bartender and cosmetologist. In Wyoming, it is a more modest 24%. In Hawaii, licences require an average of 724 days of experience and education; in Pennsylvania, 113. Enforcement is uneven, too.许可证体制变化莫测。依据司法部门，路易斯安那州要求包括理发师、酒保以及美容师在内的占70%的低收入职业持有许可证明。在怀俄明州，该比例较少，为24%。在夏威夷州，执照获得的资格要求是工作经历加教育经历724天；在宾夕法尼亚州，113天。执行过程更是入目不堪。Changes to regulations have little effect on economic growth in the short runcyclical influences such as the state of the housing market or the fortunes of a particular industry (high-tech in California, oil in Texas) matter more. But in the long run, business-friendliness makes a difference: onestudyfound that states that rank better on indices of taxes, costs and regulations enjoy stronger job growth, after filtering out the influence of industry composition and the weather. Globally, countries that rank higher in the World Banks surveys of the ease of doing business grow faster.从短期看，条规的变化对经济增长无影响，而周期性的影响因素比如房地产市场的状态或者一个特定行业的财富积累（加州的高科技，德克萨斯州的石油），却更重要。但是，从长期看，商业友好型却有不同：一项研究发现，排除行业类别组成与天气因素影响，税收、成本和监管指数排名较前的州享有更强的就业增长。全球范围内，在世界银行一项关于做生意的方便性的调查中，排名更靠前的过家发展更快。Lowering barriers to entry for new businesses gives consumers more choice and cheaper prices. A gourmet-food-truck fad began in Los Angeles with $2 Korean tacos in 2008, and has thrived because the city is flexible about where such trucks can park. By contrast, Chicago forbids food trucks from operating within 200 feet of a bricks-and-mortar restaurant, and requires them to have a GPS to ensure compliance, which makes life very hard for them in the downtown business district.降低创业的门槛让消费者享有更多的选择，更实惠的价格。一股美食车潮因2美元的韩国烤肉于2008年在洛杉矶流行开来，这是因为洛杉矶这座城市随处可适应美食车。相比而言，芝加哥却禁止快餐车停留在实体餐厅的200英尺范围内，还要求他们配有GPS定位以确保他们遵守了上述条例，而这一切让市中心商业区的人们生活艰难。Businesses lobby for lots of things they should not have: handouts from the taxpayer, handicaps imposed on their rivals. But it is hard to find fault in their plea for simpler rules, swifter bureaucratic decisions, government websites that a normal person can navigate and officials who actually answer the phone.企业为了许多不属于他们的东西四处游说：纳税人的救济金，给对手造成的障碍。然而，我们很难去指责他们想要简单条例、更迅速的官僚决策、普通人可以使用的政府网站以及可以接通电话的官员。Clearing away old rules is hard. Their benefits tend to be concentrated (eg, when they protect incumbents); their costs dispersed (slightly higher prices affect all consumers, but only a little). States and cities can, however, slow the pace at which new rules proliferate, for example by estimating their economic impact before enacting them. Last year Iowas governor vetoed a bill that would have required licences for drug-abuse counsellors, and Arizona made life easier for firms operating in multiple cities with separate sales taxes by limiting them to one tax form and one audit.废除老规矩是很难的。老规矩的受益者们往往很集中（当要保护现任者的时候）；所需成本分散（稍高的价钱会影响所有的消费者）。然而，州政府以及市政府却可以放慢新规则的制定速度，例如，在制定之前可以先评估其经济影响。去年爱荷华州的官员投票通过一项法案，其内容要求吸毒人员的顾问持有执照；亚利桑那州放宽对公司的要求，通过限制公司只有一个税种和一种审计，允许其在多个城市支付单独的销售税。The difficulty is that many rules purport to protect the public: from shoddy services, dangerous products or even death. Even if the cost is high and the risk remote, no politician wants to be accused of compromising public safety. Last year Mike Pence, Indianas Republican governor, vetoed the licensing of diabetes educators and anaesthesiologist assistants, on the grounds the new rules would raise barriers to business and require additional bureaucracy. But a year later, he signed into law a modified version of the measure, minus the extra bureaucracy but otherwise much the same.许多条例制定出来是为了保护民众免受赝品、危险的产品以及死亡的威胁，而这恰恰也是难点。即使成本高，危险遥不可及，没有一个政客愿意因为危害公共安全而被起诉。去年，印第安纳州共和党州长麦克彭斯投票糖尿病教育者以及麻醉学者助理的许可证，理由是新的法规会给商业活动造成困难，并会增加额外的官员。但是一年以后，他签署了一份修改版的法案，减少多余的官僚机构，其他方面则一样。07.15Treating mental illness心理疾病治疗Body and soul身体与灵魂A professional schism hinders Britains mental-health system一个专业性的分裂阻碍英国心理健康系统THE day after Mandy Peck tried to electrocute herself in the bath her family took her to a mental-health centre in Chelmsford and asked for help. They were told that there were no beds available and sent home. Two days later Ms Peck jumped to her death from a multi-storey car park. She left a daughter behind.在曼迪派克试图在浴室用电击自杀的第二天，她的家人将她送至且切姆斯福德的一家心理健康中心寻求帮助。他们被告知中心没有空余床位，随即回家。两天之后，派克于一个多层停车场跳楼自杀。她死后还留下了一个女儿。Ms Peck would not have been turned away had she arrived at hospital with a broken leg. Yet the National Health Service (NHS) often fails those suffering from a broken spirit. The numbers are fuzzy, but about one Briton in four suffers a mental-health problem at some time in their life, ranging from mild anxiety to severe schizophrenia. Less than a third of those receive treatment. That is in part because many sufferers are ashamed to seek help, but it is also due to funding gaps and disorganisation within the NHS. The result is a system in crisis, says Sue Bailey, a former president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists.如果派克到达医院时是腿部骨折的话，她就不会被医院拒收了。然而英国的国民医疗保健制度（NHS）总是放弃了那些饱受残缺心灵折磨的人们。尽管没有确切数据，但平均每四个英国人中就有一个人在他们生命中的某个时期受到心理健康问题的困扰，这些问题小到轻微的焦虑症，大到严重的精神分裂。可是不到三分之一的人选择接受心理治疗。因为从某种程度来讲很多病人都羞于寻求这方面的帮助，但这也归咎于NHS内部的资金缺口和杂乱无章。英国皇家精神科医学院的前任院长苏贝利称这样的结果使整个制度陷入危机。This failure is costly. Mental-health problems cause more suffering in Britain than physical illness, poverty or unemployment, according to Richard Layard, an economist and author of a book on happiness. People with severe mental illnesses have higher rates of physical illness than the general public. According to the Kings Fund, a think-tank, this costs the NHS between 8 billion ($13 billion) and 13 billion each year. Sufferers are also more likely to commit crime; mental illness has become the most common reason to claim disability benefits. Researchers at the OECD, a club of rich countries, reckon getting mentally-ill people back to work could increase employment in Britain by nearly 5%.这个失败的代价很高。据著有一本关于幸福的书的经济学家理查德莱亚德称，心理健康问题在英国给人们带来的痛苦多过生理疾病、贫困或失业。有严重心理疾病的人们比一般人有更高的生理疾病得病率。据智囊团君主基金分析，这个每年耗费了NHS80亿英镑（约合130亿美元）到13亿英镑。同时患有心理疾病的患者犯罪几率更高；心理疾病已经成为索赔伤残补助的最常见的理由。经合组织（OECD，发达国家组成的俱乐部）的研究人员估算如果将那些有心理疾病的人送回去工作，那么英国的就业率可以提高将近5%。Part of the problem is money. The consequences of mental illness cost the British economy over 100 billion a year, according to the Centre for Mental Health, a think-tank, yet the NHS spends just 11.3 billion on the problem. Some, like Mr Layard, see misplaced priorities. Doctors spend about 3.5 billion a year treating the depression and anxiety disorders suffered by some 6m British adultsa vast amount less than is spent treating the physical ailments of roughly 500,000 patients in the last year of their lives.这问题有一部分原因是因为钱。根据智囊团心理健康中心调查，心理疾病致使英国经济一年花费至少1000亿英镑，但NHS为此只花费了113亿。一些像莱亚德一样的人了解其中的轻重缓急。一些医生一年花费35亿英镑治疗大约600万患有抑郁和情绪障碍的英国成年人，这巨额费用中大部分都用来治疗50万弥留病人的生理疾病。Recent cuts to health spending have fallen hardest on mental-health care, just as doctors say demand is rising. The number of NHS beds for patients with mental illness has declined by over 30% since 2003. Many facilities are now full. As a result patients are having to travel long distances or wait months for care. To free up room, a mental-health centre in London has discharged patients to bed-and-breakfasts. Others are not so lucky: sufferers picked up by police are often diagnosed in jail cells. This week Norman Lamb, the minister for care, said that services for young people are “stuck in the dark ages”.最近健康消费的削减使心理健康护理的境况跌入谷底，正如医生所说，人们对于心理健康的需求正在提升。NHS提供给心理疾病患者的床位自2003年起已经减少了至少30%。很多设备现在也没有空余的了。因此病人必须长途跋涉去别的地方或者排队等待数月来寻求治疗。为了腾出空间，伦敦一家心理健康中心向出院病人提供住宿和早餐。其他的病人就没那么幸运了。一些病人经常碰到警察，被带回监狱诊断。本周医疗部长诺曼兰布称，对于年轻人来讲，心理健康服务“仍就停留在黑暗时期”。A second challenge arises from the way the NHS is structured. Mental-health care is staffed and funded separately from physical caretreatment is focused on the mind or body, but rarely on both at once. Yet research shows depressed people are more likely than others to develop heart and lung disease, and to suffer from strokes. Mental illness also appears to make diseases more lethal. On average men with mental-health problems die 20 years earlier than those without them (most from causes other than suicide), says the British Medical Association.第二个挑战来自NHS的制度结构。心理健康保健的提供和资助都与生理健康保健是分开的。因为治疗通常针对精神或身体，但鲜少两者兼顾。但研究显示抑郁的人比其他人更易患心脏和肺部的疾病，且更易患中风。患上心理疾病似乎也更易患上绝症。通常患上心理疾病的人比那些没有患心理疾病的人少活20年（大多心理疾病会导致患者死于除自杀之外的原因）。英国医学会如是说。The government is alive to these problems. Britains spending on mental health may be inadequate, but it compares favourably with that of other rich countries. From April ministers have promised to limit the long waiting times that prevent many people using mental-health services. And in 2012 the government pledged to give mental health care equal priority to physical care, enshrining this principle as part of the Health and Social Care Act. But critics complain that the promise has yet to deliver much practical change.政府已经意识到这些问题。英国对于心理健康的支出或许不够，但与其它富有国家相比算是不错的了、自4月部长们已经承诺会限制阻止很多人使用心理健康服务的长时间等待。2012年政府保证给予心理健康保健与生理保健平等优先权，并将这一原则作为健康与社会保健法案的一部分。但批评家们抱怨承诺并未带来很多实际变化。Reform advocates would like better integration between mental- and physical-health care. “Liaison psychiatry” involves placing mental-health specialists in hospitals to work alongside doctors. The Centre for Mental Health found that one such initiative in Birmingham reduced the length of hospital stays and the number of readmissions and improved the health and well-being of patients. The centre calculated that the programme saved four times its costs. Yet such services are often meagre.改革倡议者想要心理和生理保健更好的一体化。“联络精神病学”涉及到心理健康专家在医院和医生一起工作。心理健康中心发现,伯明翰的一项此类实验减少了病人住院时间长度和再次入院的次数，并且提高病人的健康和幸福感。中心计算得出这项计划花费只占成本四分之一，但这类服务还不完善。It would be better and cheaper to keep sufferers out of hospital altogether, says Emma Stanton, who runs Beacon UK, a mental-health consultancy. Ms Stanton recommends treatment at home through teams of doctors, nurses and social workers. Instead of swallowing antidepressants, health bosses would like sufferers of mild conditions to receive help under a programme called Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT), which aims to expand the use of treatments such as cognitive behavioural therapy. This helps individuals challenge the gloomy thinking that can lead to anxiety and depression. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), which evaluates treatments, considers it good value. Yet David Clark, an adviser for IAPT, says it reaches only a fraction of those who need it. He would like its budget doubled.心理健康咨询公司英国灯塔的运营者艾玛斯坦顿称，将患者在院外集中是个更好且更实惠的方法。斯坦顿推荐在家通过治疗团队的医生、护士以及社会工作者治疗的方法。与服用抗抑郁药相比卫生官员们更希望中等程度的病患接受一个名为“使更多人获得心理治疗”（IAPT）的项目的帮助。这个项目旨在扩大认知行为疗法的使用。这能帮助个人挑战可能会导致焦虑和抑郁的悲观想法。国家健康和护理研究所（NICE）评估此项治疗并且认为物有所值、但IAPT的顾问大卫克拉克称项目预算只够一小部分需要它的人接受治疗。他希望预算可以翻倍。Convincing politicians to cough up more funds will be tough. Some critics fear that beefing up treatment of the most common mental-health problems risks saddling the system with overwhelming costs. Fortunately there is a lot that can be achieved without more cash. Many mental-health services still do not meet the standards recommended by NICE, and communication between services is poor. Elaborate therapies are not always necessaryone effective treatment for those suffering mental illness is keeping them in a job. Other types of therapy, say advocates, should pay for themselves by saving health-care costs and increasing productivity. Improving Britons mental health is not only humane, but economical.说服政客们挤出更多的资金是艰难的。一些批评家担心加强治疗最常见的心理健康问题会有成本过高使体系不堪重负的风险。幸运的是有很多事情无需更多金钱便可做到。很多心理健康服务不符合NICE推荐的标准，并且服务之间的交流也很贫乏。复杂的治疗并不总是必要的对于病患来说，一个有效的治疗方法就是让他们保持工作。提倡者称，其他的治疗方式应该通过节约健康保健成本和提高生产力来为病患支付。提高英国心理健康不仅是关乎人道，也关系到经济。07.10Angola安哥拉Still much too oily依然很油腻Angola badly needs to diversify its one-dimensional economy安国急需多样化经济以取代单一经济体系FROM the top of the Fortaleza de Sao Miguel, a 16th