2018年经济学人 关于利息:低利率意味着不公平(1)

 

Finance and Economics

财经

Free exchange

自由交流

Negative justice

负公平

Sub-zero interest rates are neither unfair nor unnatural¹.

负利率既非不公平也非不自然。

DENMARK'S Maritime² Museum in Elsinore includes one particularly unappetising exhibit: the world's oldest ship's biscuit, from a voyage in 1852.

丹麦的埃尔西诺航海博物馆藏有一件特别让人没有胃口的展品：世上最古老的船员干粮，它出自1852年的一次海上航行。

Known as hardtack, such biscuits were prized for their long shelf lives, making them a vital source of sustenance³ for sailors far from shore.

这种以硬面包闻名的干粮，是因为它们长久的保存期限而备受重视的，这使得它们成为了远洋航行的船员的一个关键的给养来源。

They were also appreciated by a great economist⁴, Irving Fisher, as a useful economic metaphor⁵.

同时，它们还被一位伟大的经济学家——欧文·费雪推崇为一个有用的经济学比喻。

Imagine, Fisher wrote in "The Theory of Interest" in 1930, a group of sailors ship wrecked⁶ on a barren island with only their stores of hardtack to sustain them.

假设，费雪在1930年的《利息理论》中写道，一群船员在一次船只失事中落难到了一座贫瘠的岛屿上，只有储备的硬面包来维持生计。

On what terms would sailors borrow and lend biscuits among themselves?

船员相互间会以何种条件借入和出借干粮呢?

In this forlorn economy, what rate of interest would prevail?

在这个孤立无助的经济体中，何种利率会占上风呢?

One might think the answer depends on the character of the unfortunate sailors.

人们或许会认为，答案取决于不幸的船员的人品。

Interest, in many people's minds, is a reward for deferring⁷ gratification.

在许多人的头脑中，利息是对推迟满足感的一-种奖赏。

That is one reason why low interest rates are widely perceived as unjust.

这是为什么低利率被广泛地认为是不公平的一个原因。

If an abstemious⁸ sailor were prepared to lend a biscuit to his crewmate rather than eating it immediately himself, he would deserve more than one biscuit in repayment⁹.

如果某位省吃俭用的船员准备把一份干粮借给他的同伴，而不是立即自己吃掉，他会理应得到多于一份干粮的偿还。

The rate of interest should be positive- and the sharper the hunger of the sailors, the more positive it would be.

利率应当是正的——而且船员的饥饿感越强烈，它会正的越多。

In tact¹⁰, Fisher pointed¹¹ out, the interest rate on his imagined island could only be zero.

实际上，费雪指出，在这个他所设想的岛屿上，利率可能仅为0。

If it were positive, any sailor who borrowed an extra biscuit to eat would have to use more than one biscuit in the future to repay the loan.

如果它是正的，任何一位借了额外的干粮吃的船员，今后都不得不用多于一份的干粮来偿还这笔贷款。

But no sailor would accept those terms because he could instead eat one more piece from his own supply, thereby¹² reducing his future consumption by one, and only one, piece.

但是, 没有船员会接受这种条件。这是因为，他可以代之以吃掉自己供给中的多于一份的干粮，因而减少了他未来的消费中的一份，并且仅仅是一份而已。

1 unnatural   

adj.不自然的；反常的

参考例句：

• Did her behaviour seem unnatural in any way?她有任何反常表现吗？
• She has an unnatural smile on her face.她脸上挂着做作的微笑。

2 maritime   

adj.海的，海事的，航海的，近海的，沿海的

参考例句：

• Many maritime people are fishermen.许多居于海滨的人是渔夫。
• The temperature change in winter is less in maritime areas.冬季沿海的温差较小。

3 sustenance   

n.食物，粮食；生活资料；生计

参考例句：

• We derive our sustenance from the land.我们从土地获取食物。
• The urban homeless are often in desperate need of sustenance.城市里无家可归的人极其需要食物来维持生命。

4 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

5 metaphor   

n.隐喻，暗喻

参考例句：

• Using metaphor,we say that computers have senses and a memory.打个比方，我们可以说计算机有感觉和记忆力。
• In poetry the rose is often a metaphor for love.玫瑰在诗中通常作为爱的象征。

6 wrecked   

adj.失事的，遇难的

参考例句：

• the hulk of a wrecked ship 遇难轮船的残骸
• the salvage of the wrecked tanker 对失事油轮的打捞

7 deferring   

v.拖延，延缓，推迟( defer的现在分词 )；服从某人的意愿，遵从

参考例句：

• Recently, the Supreme Court has focused on an additional reason for deferring to administrative agencies. 最近，最高法院强调了尊重行政机构的另一种理由。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
• Think of it as deferring part of the compiler's job to runtime. 可以认为这是将编译器的部分工作延迟到了运行时。 来自互联网

8 abstemious   

adj.有节制的，节俭的

参考例句：

• He is abstemious in eating and drinking.他在饮食方面是很有节制的。
• Mr.Hall was naturally an abstemious man indifferent to luxury.霍尔先生天生是个饮食有度，不爱奢侈的人。

9 repayment   

n.偿还，偿还款；报酬

参考例句：

• I am entitled to a repayment for the damaged goods.我有权利索取货物损坏赔偿金。
• The tax authorities have been harrying her for repayment.税务局一直在催她补交税款。

10 tact   

n.机敏，圆滑，得体

参考例句：

• She showed great tact in dealing with a tricky situation.她处理棘手的局面表现得十分老练。
• Tact is a valuable commodity.圆滑老练是很有用处的。

11 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

12 thereby   

adv.因此，从而

参考例句：

• I have never been to that city,,ereby I don't know much about it.我从未去过那座城市，因此对它不怎么熟悉。
• He became a British citizen,thereby gaining the right to vote.他成了英国公民，因而得到了投票权。