2023年经济学人 兴奋剂对经济增长的作用(1)（在线收听）

    Finance & economics

    财经版块

    Buzzkill

    无法兴奋

    What a shortage of Adderall means for economic growth阿德拉药品短缺对经济增长意味着什么

    Towards the end of last year America began running short of medicines used to treat attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), including Adderall (an amphetamine) and Ritalin (a central-nervous-system stimulant).

    去年年底，美国用于治疗注意力缺陷多动障碍的药物开始短缺，其中包括阿德拉(一种苯丙胺)和利他林(一种中枢神经系统兴奋剂)。

    Nine in ten pharmacies reported shortages of the medication, which tens of millions of Americans use to help improve focus and concentration.

    十分之九的药店报告称这些药物短缺，而数千万美国人使用这些药物来帮助提高注意力。

    Around the same time, something intriguing happened: American productivity, a measure of efficiency at work, dropped.

    大约在同一时间，一些耐人寻味的事情发生了：在美国，衡量工作效率的生产率下降了。

    In the first quarter of 2023, output per hour fell by 3%.

    2023年第一季度，每小时产出下降了3%。

    Coincidence? Probably. Lots of other things could have explained the productivity dip.

    这是巧合吗？有可能。很多其他因素可以解释生产率下降。

    Equally, though, many of America’s most productive people rely on Adderall to get the job done.

    但是，美国效率最高的许多人也靠服用阿德拉来完成工作。

    It often seems like half of Silicon Valley, the most innovative place on Earth, is on the stuff.

    硅谷是地球上最具创新力的地方，硅谷一半的人似乎都在服用这些药品。

    And surprising things can cause GDP to rise and fall, including holidays, strikes and the weather.

    还有一些令人意想不到的事情也可能会导致GDP的起伏，包括假期、罢工和天气。

    What’s more, the economic history is clear: without things that give people a buzz, the world would still be in the economic dark ages.

    此外更重要的是，经济史很清楚地表明，如果没有让人们感到兴奋的东西，世界仍将处于经济黑暗时代。

    Not all drug consumption helps people work better, of course.

    当然，服用药物并不总能帮助人们更好地工作。

    Don Draper from “Mad Men”, a TV series about advertising executives in the 1960s, came across many of his finest ideas three Scotches deep.

    《广告狂人》是一部讲述20世纪60年代广告业高管的电视剧，主角唐·德雷柏很多最妙的点子都是在喝了三杯威士忌之后想出来的。

    But contrary to popular belief Ernest Hemingway, one of America’s greatest authors, never advised “write drunk, edit sober”, preferring to write liquor-free.

    但与人们普遍以为的相反，美国最伟大的作家之一欧内斯特·海明威从来不建议“醉酒写作，清醒编辑”，他更喜欢在写作的时候不喝酒。

    In a book published in 1983 David Ogilvy, perhaps the most famous real-life mad man, warned of the dangers of drunks in the office.

    在1983年出版的一本书中，大卫·奥格维（他也许是现实中最著名的广告狂人）对办公室酒鬼的危险发出了警告。

    Use of cocaine, common on Wall Street and in Hollywood, can give people a short-term boost.

    服用可卡因在华尔街和好莱坞很常见，可卡因可以引起短期兴奋。

    It also causes grave long-term problems.

    但也会造成严重的长期问题。

    Indeed, economists normally think of mood-altering substances as a drag on prosperity.

    事实上，经济学家通常认为，能改变情绪的物质会拖累经济繁荣。

    One estimate in 2007 put the cost of drug abuse in America at $193bn, or around 1.3% of GDP.

    2007年的一项估计显示，美国因滥用药物而造成的损失高达1930亿美元，约占GDP的1.3%。

    More recently economists have looked at “deaths of despair”, which many link to abuse of opioids.

    最近，经济学家研究了“绝望之死”，许多人认为这与滥用阿片类药物有关。

    In 2021 more than 80,000 Americans died from opioid overdoses.

    2021年，超过8万美国人死于阿片类药物服用过量。

    But stimulants can play a positive role, too.

    但兴奋剂也可以起到积极的作用。

    Consider two of them: sugar and coffee.

    想想这两种兴奋剂：糖和咖啡。

    The first allowed people to work harder; the second allowed them to work smarter.

    糖让人们能更努力地工作，咖啡让人们能更聪明地工作。

    Until the start of the 18th century calories were a significant constraint on Western economic growth.

    直到18世纪初，卡路里一直是制约西方经济增长的重要因素。

    In 1700 total food supply per person in Britain was equivalent to around 2,000 calories a day—enough for the average man to survive, but not to do a great deal more.

    1700年，英国每人每天的食物供应总量约为2000卡路里，这足够让普通人活下来，但不够让人们去做更多的事情。

    Workers were therefore inefficient.

    因此，工人的工作效率很低。

    Many of the poor, who survived on even more meagre diets, barely had the energy to move, let alone do anything useful.

    许多穷人吃着更少更差的食物度日，他们几乎连走动的力气都没有，更不用说去做什么有用的事情了。