2019年经济学人 一篮子无形资产(1)

 

Baby-boomers may recall, perhaps wistfully, how the golden-arched sign outside every McDonald's restaurant

婴儿潮出生的一代人也许还能够回忆起，可能会有些伤感，每家麦当劳餐厅外边的金拱门指示牌

would proclaim how many customers had been served by the chain.

是如何宣告它们服务了多少名顾客的。

As they became adults, the number kept on climbing: 5bn in 1969; 30bn in 1979; 80bn in 1990.

随着这代人步入成年，这个数字一直在攀升：1969年50亿人次；1979年300亿人次；1990年800亿人次。

Jerry Seinfeld, a wry¹ chronicler of the trivial, was moved to ask: "Why is McDonald's still counting?"

滑稽的琐事编年史家杰瑞·宋飞感动地问：“为什么麦当劳还在统计着人数？”

Do we really need to know about every last burger? Just put up a sign that says, "We're doing very well."

我们真的需要知道每一个汉堡的一切么？只用立一个标牌说，“我们做的非常棒。“不就好了么。

The counting stopped. The signs said simply: "Billions and billions served".

统计停止了。标牌上简单地写着：“我们为数十亿顾客提供了服务。”

If this seems unhelpfully vague, that is how the counting business sometimes is.

如果这样显得模糊不清，那么统计行业有时就是如此。

Many of America's biggest companies, including McDonald's, report a negative book value, a gauge² of a firm's net assets.

包括麦当劳在内的很多美国最大公司上报的账面价值都是负值，账面价值是对一家公司净资产的估量。

Many more have a book value that is small relative to their market value: their shares look dear on a price-to-book basis.

更多公司的账面价值和他们的市值相比相对较小：从股价与账面价值基础上来看，他们的股票很贵。

Much of this is down to the complexity³ of valuing a firm's assets in the digital age. But the result is that price-to-book is a bad guide to a stock's true value.

部分原因是由于，在这个数字时代，评估一家公司的资产很复杂。但结果就是股价与账面价值为股票真实价值提供了糟糕的指导。

Stockpickers make a distinction between the price of a share and what it is truly worth.

选股高手分得清股票价格和它真实的价值。

Price is a creature of fickle⁴ sentiment, of greed and fear. Value, in contrast, depends on a firm's capabilities⁵.

价格是变化无常的情绪的产物，或是贪婪或是恐惧。相反，价值取决于一家公司的能力。

There are various shorthand measures for this, but true "value" investors⁶ put the greatest store by the price-to-book ratio.

区分它们的速成方法各式各样，但是真正的“价值”投资者认为股价与账面价值比率是重中之重。

It is the basis for inclusion in benchmarks such as the Russell value index.

这是基准，如罗素价值指数，的包容基础。

Countless⁷ studies have shown that buying stocks with a low price-to-book is a winning strategy.

无数研究表明购买股价与账面价值比率低的股票是一种制胜策略。

But not recently. For much of the past decade, value stocks have lagged behind the general market and a long way behind "growth" stocks, their antithesis⁸.

在过去将近十年时间里，价值股已经落后于共同市场，也远远落后于成长股—它们的对立股票。

Perhaps this is because, as the industrial age gives way to the digital age, the intangible assets that increasingly matter are not easy to put a value on.

这或许是因为，随着工业时代让步于数字时代，无形资产日益重要且其价值变得难以估量。

The tangible⁹ world is easier. Factories, machines, land and office buildings count as capital assets on a firm's books,

有形世界就容易得多。工厂、机器、土地和办公大楼都算作是公司的账面产，

because they will generate profits for many years. It is a fairly straightforward¹⁰ business to come up with a value for them:

因为它们将产生多年利润。为它们定价是一件相当简单的事情：

it is what the firm paid. This value is gradually written off (depreciated) over time to reflect wear and tear and obsolescence¹¹.

就是公司支付的价钱。这个价值随时间逐渐勾销（折旧），以体现它们的磨损和淘汰。

Such fixed¹² capital assets, along with current assets (cash, stocks of unsold goods, and so on) typically make up the bulk of book value.

这种固定的资产以及流动资产（现金、未售出货物存货等等）组成了大部分的账面价值。

1 wry   

adj.讽刺的；扭曲的

参考例句：

• He made a wry face and attempted to wash the taste away with coffee.他做了个鬼脸，打算用咖啡把那怪味地冲下去。
• Bethune released Tung's horse and made a wry mouth.白求恩放开了董的马，噘了噘嘴。

2 gauge   

v.精确计量；估计；n.标准度量；计量器

参考例句：

• Can you gauge what her reaction is likely to be?你能揣测她的反应可能是什么吗？
• It's difficult to gauge one's character.要判断一个人的品格是很困难的。

3 complexity   

n.复杂(性)，复杂的事物

参考例句：

• Only now did he understand the full complexity of the problem.直到现在他才明白这一问题的全部复杂性。
• The complexity of the road map puzzled me.错综复杂的公路图把我搞糊涂了。

4 fickle   

adj.(爱情或友谊上)易变的，不坚定的

参考例句：

• Fluctuating prices usually base on a fickle public's demand.物价的波动往往是由于群众需求的不稳定而引起的。
• The weather is so fickle in summer.夏日的天气如此多变。

5 capabilities   

n.能力( capability的名词复数 )；可能；容量；[复数]潜在能力

参考例句：

• He was somewhat pompous and had a high opinion of his own capabilities. 他有点自大，自视甚高。 来自辞典例句
• Some programmers use tabs to break complex product capabilities into smaller chunks. 一些程序员认为，标签可以将复杂的功能分为每个窗格一组简单的功能。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

6 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

7 countless   

adj.无数的，多得不计其数的

参考例句：

• In the war countless innocent people lost their lives.在这场战争中无数无辜的人丧失了性命。
• I've told you countless times.我已经告诉你无数遍了。

8 antithesis   

n.对立；相对

参考例句：

• The style of his speech was in complete antithesis to mine.他和我的讲话方式完全相反。
• His creation was an antithesis to academic dogmatism of the time.他的创作与当时学院派的教条相对立。

9 tangible   

adj.有形的，可触摸的，确凿的，实际的

参考例句：

• The policy has not yet brought any tangible benefits.这项政策还没有带来任何实质性的好处。
• There is no tangible proof.没有确凿的证据。

10 straightforward   

adj.正直的，坦率的；易懂的，简单的

参考例句：

• A straightforward talk is better than a flowery speech.巧言不如直说。
• I must insist on your giving me a straightforward answer.我一定要你给我一个直截了当的回答。

11 obsolescence   

n.过时，陈旧，废弃

参考例句：

• For some small unproductive mills,the reality is not merger but obsolescence and bankruptcy.对一些效率低下的小厂而言，现实不是合并，而是可能被淘汰和破产。
• Finally,the cost approach can provide a basis for allocating penalties,specifically economic obsolescence.最后，成本法可作为一个分配因陈旧特别是因经济

12 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。