Theprinciplesofeconomics.经济学的原理(英译中)

1、Theprinciplesofeconomics.经济学的原理（英译中）The word economy es from the Greek word for“ one who man ages ahousehold. ” at first, this origin might seem peculiar.经济这个字眼来自希腊语中“家庭的管理者”，一开始，这个起源似乎看上去有些特殊。But, i n fact, households and econo mies have much in mon.但是，实际上，家庭和经济有许多的共同之处。A household faces many decis

2、i ons.一个家庭面临很多的决定。It must decide which membersof the household do which tasks and what each member gets in return:它必须要决定家庭成员要完成任务，并且将每个家庭中的成员都安排在内。Who cooks dinner?谁烧正餐？Who does the laun dry?谁做洗衣服？Who gets the extra dessert at dinner?谁可以得到额外的餐后甜点？Who gets to choose what TV show to watch?谁可以选择电视节目来看？

3、s abilitie s, efforts,In short, the household must allocate its scarce resources among its various members, tak ing in to acco unt each member and desires.并把每个成员能力，努总之，家庭必须把其缺乏的资源分配给其中的各种成员， 力和愿望考虑进去，Like a household, a society faces many decisi ons.和家庭一样，社会也面临很多的决定。A society must decide what jobs w

4、ill be done and who will do them.社会必须决定工作将要被完成，由谁来完成它们。It n eeds some people to grow food, other people to makeclothi ng,and stillothers to desig n pu ter software.还需要一些人来设计电脑软件。它需要一些人来种植粮食，一些人来制作服装，well as land,buildings,andwho will eat caviar and who willOnce society has allocated people (as machi

5、nes) to various jobs, it must decide eat po tatoes.做各种不同的工作，它肯定决定一旦社会分派人们(比如陆地，建筑物和机器)谁将吃鱼子酱，谁将吃马铃薯。It must decide who will drive a Po rsche and who will take the bus.它肯定决定谁将开保时捷，谁将乘公共汽车。The managemenOf society ' s resources is important because resources are scarce.因为资源缺乏所以社会资源的管理是非常重要的。Scarcit

6、y means that society has less to offer tha n people wish to have.不足意味着社会的供应不能满足人们的期望值。Just as a household cannot give every member everything he or she wants, a society cannot give every in dividualthe highest sta ndard of livi ng towhich he or she might asp ire.就像家庭不能满足所有成员的需求一样，社会不能给所有个体以他们所期待的最 高

7、的生活标准。Econo mics is the study of how society man ages its scarce resources.经济学就是研究社会如何管理其缺乏的资源的方法。In most societies, resources are allocated not by a single central planner but through the bined acti ons of millio ns of households and firms.在大部分的社会中，资源并不是被单一的中心计划者分配而是由数百万家庭与相 结合的行动分配。Econo mists the

8、refore study how people make decisi ons:因此经济学家研究人们如何做决定：Howmuchthey work, what they buy, how muchthey save, and how they invest their sav in gs.他们做多少工作，他们买什么，他们节省多少，并且他们怎样用存款进行投资。Econo mists also study how people in teract with one ano ther.经济学家也研究人们之间的相互影响。For in sta nee, they exam ine how the mult

9、itude of buyers and sellers of a good together determ ine the p rice at which the good is sold and the qua ntity that is sold and the economy as a whole, in clud ing the growth in average ine, the fractionof the population that cannot find work, andthe rate at which p rices are rising.例如，他们调查一件商品的顾客

10、群和卖主是如何一起来制定出这件被售商品的价 格，数量和整体的经济情况，包括平均收入的增长，小部分人口的失业，和价格 上涨的速率。Although the study of econo mics has many facets, the field is un ified by several cen tral ideas.尽管经济学的研究存在很多的侧面，但这一领域被几个中心的想法所统一。In the rest of this cha pter, we look at Ten Princip les of Econo mics.在这章的余下的部分中，我们看一下经济学的 10个原则。These p

11、rincip les recur throughout this book and are in troduced here to give you an overview of what econo mics is all about.这些原则重复贯穿于这本书中，向你们介绍对经济学的一个总体的看法。How people make decisi ons.人们该怎样做决定。There is no mystery to what an“经济”是什么，并不神秘。Whether we are talk ing about the economy of Los An geles, of the un i

12、ted state, or of the whole world, an economy is just a group in teract ing with one ano ther as they go about their lives.无论我们谈论美国洛杉矶的经济，还是全球世界经济， 人的相互作用影响，就好像他们着手的人生一样。 -Because the behavior of an economy reflects individualswho makeup the economy, we start ourfour princip les of in dividual decisi

13、 on-mak ing.因为经济的行为反映组成经济的个体的行为，我们以个体做决定的4原则来开始 经济学的研究。Prin ci pie 1 people face tradeoffs.“ ” -economy is.of people经济都是一群人们与其他the behavior of thestudy of economics with原则1,人们面对交易。The first less on about making decisi ons is summarized in the adage:关于下决定的第一个功课被概括在格言中：“ There is no such thing as a fr

14、ee lun ch.“没有免费的午餐”。To get one thing that we like, we usually have to give up ano ther thing that we like.为了得到我们所喜欢的一件东西，我们通常不得不放弃另一件我们所喜欢的东 西。Making decisi ons requires trad ing off one goal aga inst ano ther.做决定需要用一个目标取代其它所有的目标。Con Sider a stude nt who must decide how to allocate her most valuable

15、 resource her time.考虑一个学生必须决定如何来分配她的最有价值的资源和她的时间。She can spend all of her time study ing econo mics;她可以花费她全部的时间来学习经济学。She can spend all her time study ing p sychology;她可以花费她全部的时间来学习心理学。or she can divide her time betwee n the two fields.或者，她可以将她的时间分配给这两门学科。For every hour she studies one subject, she

16、gives up an hour she could have used study ing the other.每个小时她学习一门学科，放弃一个小时她可能已经用它来学习其它的事情。And for every hour she spends studying, she gives up an hour that she could have spent napping, bike riding, watching TV, or working at her part-time job for some extra spending mon ey.并且，每一小时她都用来学习，放弃一个小时她可以打

17、盹，骑自行车，看电视， 或做一份能为她带来额外花销的兼职。Or con sider parents decidi ng how to spend their family ine.或者，考虑父母如何决定家庭收入的开支。They can buy food, cloth ing, or a family vacatio n.他们可以买食物，服装或一个家庭度假。Or they can save someof the family ine for retirement or the children ' s college educati on.或者，他们可心为自己的退休或子女们的大学教育储蓄

18、一部分的家庭收入。Whenthey choose to spend an extra dollar on one of these goods, they have one less dollar to spend on some other good.当他们选择在这个商品的上花费额外的一美元的时候，他们已经没有能力在其它的商品上花费了。Whe n people are grouped into societies, they face differe nt kinds of tradeoffs.当人们被分类进入社会的时候，他们面对各种不同的种类的交易。The classic tradeoff

19、 is betwee n“ guns and butter. ”一个“枪与黄油”之间的经典的交易。The more we spend on n ati onaldefe nse to p rotectour shores form foreig naggressors (gun s), the less we can spend on personal goods to raise our sta ndard of liv ing at home (butter).我们为保护边岸不受外国的侵略而在国防上花费的钱越多(枪)，在国内我们花费在提高生活水平的商品上的钱就越少(黄油)。Also imp

20、ortantin modern society is the tradeoff between a cleanen vir onment and a high level of ine.在当今社会中清洁的环境和高收入水平之间的交易也是重要的。Laws that require firms to reduce p olluti on raise the cost of p roduc ing goods and devices.法律要求减少污染提高生产产品和设备的成本。Because of the higher costs, these firms end up earning smaller

21、profits, paying lower wages, chargi ng higher p rices, or some bin atio n of these three.由于更高的成本，这些将结束赚取更小的利润，支付更低的工资，索取更高的价 格，或者这三者的合并。Thus, while p olluti on regulatio ns give us the ben efit of a clea ner en vir onment and the impro ved health that es with it, they have the cost of reducing the i

22、nes of the firms' owners, workers, and customers.这样，当污秽规章给我们更清洁的环境和改善健康的利益到来的时候，他们的成本就是所有者，工人和顾客所减少的收入。Ano ther tradeoff society faces is betwee n efficie ncy and equity.另一个社会所面对的是效率和公正之间交易。Efficie ncy mea ns that society isgett ing themost it can from its scarce resources.效率表示社会在最大限度的使用它有限资源中的获

23、取。Equity mean sthat the ben efits of those resources are distributed fairly among society ' s members.公正表示那些资源的利益被公平的分布在社会成员中。In other words, efficie ncy refers to the size of the econo mic pie, and equity refers to how the pie is divided ofte n, whe n gover nment p olicies are being desig ned,

24、and these two goals con flict.换句话说，效率是指经济馅饼的尺寸，而公正是指当政府的政策已经被设定，这 两个目标有冲突的时候馅饼经常被分配的方法。Consider, forinstanee,policiesaimed at achieving a more equaldistributi on of econo mic well-be ing.考虑，例如，政策针对完成更相等的经济上的福利分配。Some of these policies,such as the welfare system or unemploymentin sura nee, try to hel

25、p those members of society who are most in n eed.这些政策，类似福利制度或失业保险政策，都努力去帮助那些最需要帮助的社会 成员。Others, such as the in dividual ine tax, ask the finan cially successful to con tribute more tha n others to support the gover nment.此外，类似个人所得税，要求财政上成功的个人贡献比其它人更多的所得税来支 持政府。Although these p olicies have the ben e

26、fit of achiev ing greater equity, they have a cost in terms of reduced efficie ncy.尽管这些政策有完成更公平的利益，但他们在减少的效率方面有成本。Wherthe government redistributes ine from the rich to the poor, it reduces the reward for work ing hard;当政府重新从有钱人到穷人再次分配收入的时候，它会减少努力工作所得的报 酬；as a result, people work less and p roduce fe

27、wer goods and services.其结果，人们工作的更少，商品生产的更少和服务的更少。In other words, whe n the gover nment tries to cut the econo mic pie into more equal slices, the pie gets smaller.换句话说，当政府努力去把经济的馅饼切成更相等的切片时候，馅饼就变得更小。Recognizing that people face tradeoffs des not by itself tell us what decisi ons they will or should

28、make.承认人们面对交易不是通过它本身，告诉我们他们将做或者应该做什么样的决 定。A stude nt should not aba ndon the study of p sychology just because doing so would in crease the time available for the study of econo mics.正因为这样去做将增加可以用于研究经济学的可利用的时间所以学生不应该放 弃心理学的研究。Society should not stop p rotect ing the en vir onment just because en vir

29、 onmen tal regulati ons reduce our material sta ndard of liv ing.正因为环境的规章减少我们生活水平的原料，所以社会有应该停止对环境的保 护。The poor should not be ignored just because helpin g them distorts work incen tives.正因为帮助他们曲解工作动机所以穷人不应该被忽视。Non etheless, ack no wledg ing life ' s tradeoffs is imp orta nt because people are li

30、kely to make good decisi ons only if they un dersta nd the po siti ons that they have available.尽管如此，承认生活面临交易是重要的，因为如果他们懂得了他们可利用的情势， 人们有可能做一个好的决定。Principle 2 the cost of somethi ng is what you give up to get it.原则2, 一些你要放弃去得到的成本。Because people face tradeoffs,making decisions requires paring the cost

31、sand ben efits of alter native course of action.因为人们面对交易，下决定需要比较选择路线的成本和利益。In many cases, however, the cost of some acti on is not as obvious as it might first app ear.不过，在很多的案例中，一些行动的成本不和它同样明显的首先出现。Con sider, for exa mp le, the decisi on whether to go to college.举个例子，考虑是否去上大学的决定。The ben efit is in

32、tellectual en richme nt and a lifetime of better job opportun ities.利益是智力的财富和的终生较好的工作机会。But what is the cost?但是，成本是什么？To an swer this questi on, you might be temp ted to add up the mon eyyou spend on tuiti on, books, room, and board.为了答复这问题，你愿意被怂恿将你花费在学费，书，房租和善食费用上的钱加 起来。Yet this total does not trul

33、y rep rese nt what you dive up to spend a year in college.然而，这个合计的数字并不真正说明你将在学院度过一年的花费。The first p roblem with this an swer is that it in cludes some thi ngs thatare not really costs of going to college.这个答案中第一个问题是它包括了一些不是真的去学院的花费成本在内。Eve n if you quit school, you would n eed a pl ace to slee p and

34、food to eat.即使你学校退学，你仍将需要睡觉的地方和吃的食物。Roomand board are costs of going to college only to the extent that they are more expen sive at college tha n elsewhere.去学院的房间和膳食费用的成本仅仅是学院里与其它地方相比较高的那个范围。In deed, the cost of room and board at your school mighty be less tha n the rent and food expenses that you w

35、ould pay living on your own, in this case, the sav ings on room and board are a ben efit of going to college.当然，学校房租和膳食的成本一定要比你自己居住时的租金与食费少，在这种情况下，去大学的利益就在于节省租金和食物开销。The sec ond p roblem with this calculati on of costs is that it ignores the largest cost of going to college-your time.成本的计算中的第二个问题是它忽

36、略了去大学的最大的成本一你的时间。Whe n you spend a year liste ning to lectures, readi ng textbooks, and writi ng pap ers, you cannot spend that time work ing at a job.当你花费一年来听课，读教科书和答卷的时候，你就不能用这个时间去工作。For most stude nts, the wages give n up to atte nd school are the largest sin gle cost of their educati on.对大部分的学生而

37、言，为了上学校而放弃的工资是他们教育的最大的单一的成 本。Next PageThe opportunity cost of an item is what you give up to get that item.机会成本就是你为了得到这个项目而要放弃另外一个项目。Whe n making any decisi on, such as whether to atte nd college, decisi on makers should be aware of the opportunitycosts that acpany each possibleaction, in fact, they

38、 usually are.给做一个类似是否上学院的决定的时候，做决定的人应该知道机会成本随伴每个 可能的行动，实际上，他们通常是这样的。College-age athletes who can earn millionsif they drop ort of school andp lay pro fessi onal sp orts are well aware that their opportunity cost of college is very high.如果离开学校从事职业运动可能赚取百万元的大学生运动员，很清梦他们读大学的机会成本非常高。It is not surprising

39、 that they oft en decide that the ben efit is not worth the cost.他们经常决定利益并不与成本等值，并不令人吃惊。Principle 3 ratio nal people thi nk at the margi n.原则的3,人们在差额上的合理思考。Many decisi ons in life invo Ive maki ng small in creme ntal adjustme nts to an exist ing plan of acti on.一生中的很多决定包括给目前行动的计划做小的渐渐增加的调整。Econo mis

40、ts call these margi nal cha nges.经济学家称这些为边际的变化。In many situati ons, people will make the best decisi ons by thinking at the margi n.在很多的情况下，人们考虑了差额后将会做出最好的决定。Suppose, for instanee,that a friend asks your advice about howmanyyearsto stay in school.推测一下，例如朋友向你征求在学校呆多少年的建议。If you were to pare for him t

41、he life style of a person with a to thatof a grade school dropout, he might plain that this parison is not helpful for his decisi on.如果你为他将一个有哲学博士的人的生活方式与一个中途缀学生相比较，他将会抱怨道：这比较对他的决定来说没有帮助。Your friend is more likely to have some educatio n already and to be decid ing whether to spend an extra year or

42、two in school.你的朋友更有可能已经接受一些教育，在决定是否在学校花费额外的一年或二年 时间。To make this decisi on, he n eeds to know the additi onal ben efits that an extra year in school would offer and the additi onal costs that he would in cur.为了下这个决定，他需要知道上额外一年的学将提供的额外的利益和他将承受的 额外的成本。By paring these margi nal ben efits and margi nal

43、 costs, he can evaluate whether the extra year is worthwhile.通过对这些差额利润和差额成本的比较，他将会评价额外的一年是否有价值。As ano ther exa mple of how thinking at the margin helps decisi on making, consider an airline deciding how much to charge passengers who fly sta ndby.作为另一个考虑差额帮助做出决定的方法的例子，考虑一个航空公司决定向准备 飞行的乘客收取多少费用.Suppos

44、e that flying a 200-seat plane across the country costs the airline $ this case, the average cost of each seat is$ 100000/200,which is$ 500.假设驾驶200-座位飞机穿过这个国家将花费这个航空公司100000美元.在这种情况下，每个座位的平均成本是$ 100000除以$200,即$ 500美元。 one might be temp ted to con clude that the airli ne should n ever sell a ticket f

45、or less than$ 500.得出的结论只有一种可能：航空公司决不以比$500低的价格售票Yet the airli ne can raise its p rofits by thinking at the margin.然而，航空公司可以通过在价格差额带来的利益思考来提高其利益。Supp ose that a plane is about to take off with ten empty seats.假设即将起飞的飞机有10空的座位。A standby passenger is waiting at the gate willing to pay $ 300 for a seat.

46、一个在大门处等待机座的乘客乐于为这个座位支付$300的费用。Should the air line sell it to him?航空公司应该将这个座位卖给他吗？Of course it should.当然应该。If the plane has empty seats, the cost of addi ng one more p asse nger isminuscule, although the average cost of flying a passenger is $ 500, the margi nal cost is merely the cost of the bag of

47、peanuts and can of sodathat the extra p asse nger will con sume.如果飞机有空的座位，每增加一个乘客成本就会更小，尽管每位飞行乘客的平均 成本是500美元，边缘的价格仅仅是乘客将额外消费的花生和罐装汽水的价格 .As long as the standby passenger pays more than the marginal cost, selling him a ticket is p rofitable.只要等待机座的乘客支付的价钱比边缘价格高，卖给他票是有利可图。As these exa mples show, in d

48、ividuals and firms can make better decisi ons by thi nking at the margi n.这些例子表明，通过在价格差额上的思考个人和能做出更好决定。A rati onal decisi on maker takes an actio n if and on ly if th e marginal ben efit of the acti on exceeds the marginal cost.只有当这个行动带来边际利润超出它的边际成本时，一个理性的决策制定者才可以实施这个行动。Prin ci pie 4 people res pond

49、 to incen tives. 原则4,人们对刺激性因素的响应。Because people makedecisi ons by paring costs and ben efits, their behavior may cha nge whe n the costs or ben efits cha nge.因为人们通过比较成本和利益来做决定，所以当成本或利益变化的时候，他们的行为可以变化。That is, people res pond to incen tives.那就是，人们对刺激性因素的响应。Whenthe price of an apple rises, for instane

50、e, people decide to eat more p ears and fewer appI es, because the cost of buying an apple is higher.例如，当苹果的价格上涨时候，人们因为买苹果的成本高所以决定多吃洋梨和少 吃苹果。At the same time, apple orchards decide to hire more workers and harvest more appi es, because the ben efit of selli ng an apple is also higher.同时，苹果果园决定雇用更多的工

51、人收获更多的苹果，因为卖苹果的利益也更高。The cen tral role of incen tives in determ ining behavior is imp orta nt for those desig ning p ublic p olicy.刺激性因素的中心的角色在决定行为中对那些有计划的公众政策是重要的。P ublic P olicies ofte n alter the costs or ben efits of p rivate acti ons.公共的政策经常改变私人的行动的成本或利益。Whenpolicymakers fail to consider how be

52、havior might change as a result, their p olicies can have effects that they did not intend.他们的政策会有他们没当政策的制定者不思索行为怎样可以其结果改变的时候，有预计到的后果。As an exa mple of such uninten ded effects, con sider p ublic p olicy toward seat belts and auto safety, in the 1950s few cars had seat belts.对于安全带和汽车安全考虑的公众政策的非故意的影响

53、的一个例子，因此，在五十年代只有极少的汽车有安全带。Today all cars do, and the reas on for the cha nge id p ublic p olicy.今日全部汽车都有了，原因在于改变社会政策。In the late 1960s, Ralph n adir ' s book un safe at nay sp eed gen erated much p ublic concern over auto safety, con gress res pon ded with legislati onrequiring car panies to mak

54、evarious safety features,including seat belts,sta ndard equipment on all new cars.在60年代末期，拉尔夫的书在速度产生的危险，使很多公共关心汽车的安全， 国会根据立法做出响应要求汽车制造厂商制造各种的安全部件，包括安全带，标准的装备在所有的新车上How does a seat belt law affect auto safety?安全带法律是怎样影响汽车安全的？The direct effect is obvious.直接的效果是明显。With seat belts in all cars, more peop

55、le wear seat belts, and the p robability of surv iving a major auto accide nt rises.全部汽车都有安全带，更多的人们系安全带，在一场重大交通事故中生还的可能 性在上升.。In this sen se, seat belts save lives.在这种意义下，安全带挽救了生命。This direct impact of seat belts on safety is what motivated congress to require seat belts.安全带的对安全的直接的影响是促使国会做出安全带的要求。Y

56、et, to understand fully the effects of this law, one must recognize that people cha nge their behavior in res ponse the incen tives they face.然而,更充分地理解这法律的效果，必须承认人们在面对的刺激性因素的响应中 改变他们的行为他们。In this case, the releva nt behavior is the sp eed and care with whichdrivers op erate their automobiles.在这种情况下，

57、有关的行为是速度和对司机驾驶汽车的担心。Driving slowly and carefully is costly because it uses the driver ' s time and en ergy.慢速的小心的驾驶的代价是昂贵的因为它占用了司机的时间和精力。When decid ing how safely to drive, rati onal people pare the margi nalben efit from safer driv ing to the marginal cost.当决定了怎么安全地驾驶的时候，理性的人们把安全的驾驶带来的边际利益与它 的边际成本相比较。The drive more slowly and car efully whe n the ben efit of in creased safety is high.当增加的安全的利益高的时候，人们更慢速和小心的驾驶.This explains why people drive more slowly and carefully whe n roads are icy tha n whe n roads are clear.这解释了为什么当道路被冰覆盖的时候，人们要比路况好的时候更慢速和慎