经济学人:优步经济学:艰难的交易(1)

 　　Economists¹ have always been fond of Uber. Its willingness to battle incumbents², use of technology to match buyers and sellers, 经济学家一直都钟爱优步。优步乐意与在位者竞争、利用科技将买家和卖家进行匹配，

　　and embrace of "surge" pricing to balance supply and demand make the ride-hailing giant a dismal³ scientist's dream. 并乐于采用“峰时价格”平衡供求关系，这使得这家约车巨头成为了科学家的梦想。

　　Steven Levitt, the author of the bestselling "Freakonomics", called it "the embodiment of what the economists would like the economy to look like". 畅销书《魔鬼经济学》的作者史蒂文·莱维特称其为“经济学家理想经济的化身”。

　　But if economists subjected Uber and its competitors to a cost-benefit analysis, they might not be so impressed. 但如果经济学家们对优步和其竞争对手进行一次成本效益分析，可能就不会对它们如此印象深刻了。

　　This might surprise customers. A study in 2016 by researchers from Oxford⁴ University, 这可能会让消费者们感到意外。2016年来自牛津大学、

　　the University of Chicago and Uber itself found sizeable benefits from ride-hailing services for consumers. 芝加哥大学和优步的研究人员做了一项研究，研究发现消费者从约车服务中获利丰厚。

　　Using data from 48m Uber trips taken in four American cities in 2015, 他们根据2015年四个美国城市的4800万次优步出行记录

　　they estimated the difference between how much customers were willing to pay and their actual fare. 估算出了乘客愿意支付的车费和他们实际车费之间的差别。

　　Each $1 spent on Uberx rides generated a "consumer surplus" of $1.60. Across America, that surplus was estimated to be $6.8bn a year. 每花费1美元乘坐优步，就会产生1.6美元的“消费者盈余”。据估计，全美每年所产生的这类盈余为68亿美元。

　　Drivers also benefit. Few sign up for lack of anything else, as is true of some gig work: 司机也是受益者。不向一些零工，极少有人因没事可做而签约优步：

　　in America roughly eight in ten have left another job to get behind the wheel. 在美国约有80%的人辞职去开车。

　　The typical American Uber driver makes $16 per hour ($10 after expenses), higher than the federal minimum wage. 美国优步司机一般每小时可挣16美元（扣除成本后为10美元），比联邦最低工资都高。

　　In London earnings⁵ after expenses come to 11 pounds ($14) per hour 在伦敦，扣除成本后，司机每小时可挣11英镑（14美元）

　　and a recent survey found Uber drivers reporting higher levels of life satisfaction on average than other workers. 并且最近的一项调查发现优步司机比其他劳动者的平均生活满意度都高。

1 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 incumbents   

教区牧师( incumbent的名词复数 )； 教会中的任职者

参考例句：

• In general, incumbents have a 94 percent chance of being reelected. 通常现任官员有94%的几率会再次当选。
• This arangement yields a wonderful gain to incumbents. 这种安排为在职人员提供了意外的得益。

3 dismal   

adj.阴沉的，凄凉的，令人忧郁的，差劲的

参考例句：

• That is a rather dismal melody.那是一支相当忧郁的歌曲。
• My prospects of returning to a suitable job are dismal.我重新找到一个合适的工作岗位的希望很渺茫。

4 Oxford   

n.牛津（英国城市）

参考例句：

• At present he has become a Professor of Chemistry at Oxford.他现在已是牛津大学的化学教授了。
• This is where the road to Oxford joins the road to London.这是去牛津的路与去伦敦的路的汇合处。

5 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。