经济学人44:贪婪的欲求 资本主义的局限性

 　　Books and Arts; Book Review;Money and the markets;Insatiable longing¹

　　文艺；书评；金钱与市场;贪婪的欲求：资本主义的局限性;

　　Two new books probe the limits of capitalism²;

　　两本探讨资本主义局限性的新书;

　　How Much Is Enough? Money and the Good Life. By Robert Skidelsky and Edward Skidelsky.

　　《多少才算够？金钱与良好生活》，作者：罗伯特·斯科德尔斯基和爱德华·斯科德尔斯基。

　　What Money Can't Buy: The Moral Limits of Markets. By Michael Sandel.

　　《钱买不到的东西：市场的道德局限性》，作者：迈克尔·桑德尔。

　　MOST policymakers, and the economists³ who advise them, believe that the rich Western economies have suffered a mechanical malfunction⁴. With the right monetary⁵, fiscal⁶ and regulatory tools, the growth machine will eventually whirr into life. Others think the West's true malaise is not mechanical but moral: a love of money, markets and material things.

　　在大多数当权者以及向他们建言的经济学家看来，富裕的西方经济遭遇了机制性的失调。只要运用正确的货币和财政政策及监管工具，经济增长机器终究会恢复生机。但另有一些人认为，西方世界的真正病因不是源自机制，而是源自道德：是对金钱、市场和物质生活的追逐。

　　“How Much Is Enough?” and “What Money Can't Buy” are well-argued versions of this second view. In the former, Robert and Edward Skidelsky, a father-and-son pair of British academics, take as their text an essay written in 1930 by John Maynard Keynes. Keynes (of whom the elder Skidelsky has written a three-volume biography) mused⁷ that within a century “the economic problem” would be solved: in rich countries people would be at least four times wealthier, on average, and have to work perhaps 15 hours a week. He looks right about living standards, but horribly wrong about working hours.

　　《多少才算够？》和《钱买不到的东西》这两本书，雄辩地论证了上面所说的第二种观点。前一本书的作者是英国父子学者罗伯特·斯科德尔斯基和爱德华·斯科德尔斯基。他们在书中从约翰·梅纳德·凯因斯在1930年写的一篇论文说起（罗伯特·斯科德尔斯基曾写过三卷本的凯恩斯传记）。凯恩斯在那篇论文文中预言，不出一百年，“经济问题”将不成其为问题。在富裕国家中，人们的财富将增加三倍，平均每周将只工作15小时。他对生活水平的预言看来是对的，但对工作时间的预言却大错特错了。

　　In the rich world the modern economic problem, the Skidelskys say, is how to live well amid plenty, not how to survive amid scarcity⁸. Yet the West still chases slavishly after ever-higher gross domestic product, a purely⁹ material measure that takes no account of the blessings¹⁰ of nature or leisure. Humanity has become insatiable, in short. It is time to stop and rediscover the “good life”. This they identify with a list of “basic goods”: health, security, respect, “personality” (autonomy, if you prefer), harmony with nature, and leisure.

　　斯科德尔斯基父子认为，在富裕世界里，现时的经济问题已经不是如何在短缺的环境中挣扎生存，而是如何在丰裕的环境中过高质量的生活。但是西方世界仍然在竭力追求不断增长的GDP（国内生产总值）。GDP是一个纯粹的物质性指标，完全忽略自然和闲适的价值。简言之，人类已经变得贪得无厌。现在已经到了反思和重新定义“良好生活”的时候了。他们对良好生活的定义包括一系列“基本条件”：健康、安全、尊严、“个性”（或者说“自主”）、与自然的和谐关系，以及闲适。

　　You might expect the Skidelskys to make common cause with those economists who believe that maximising “happiness” should be the goal of public policy. Not a bit of it. What makes people happy, they argue, is not necessarily good. They have little time for statistical¹¹ measures of happiness—or the pursuit of any single metric. That would imply that the elements of the good life could be traded off against each other, which they deny. Nor do the Skidelskys ally themselves with environmentalists. Greens reject growth because they believe it cannot be sustained without wrecking¹² the planet. But what if it can? Better, say the Skidelskys, to pursue the good life for its own sake.

　　人们可能以为，斯科德尔斯基父子和那些认为公共政策目标应当是“幸福”最大化的经济学家属于同一阵营，其实不然。斯氏父子认为，使人们感到幸福的事情，不一定都是好事。他们在书中几乎没有讨论幸福的统计指标或度量标准问题。那些统计指标意味着，良好生活的各种要素是可以互相替换的，而他们否认这种可替换性。另外，斯氏父子也不赞成环境主义者的主张。绿色运动倡导者们反对经济增长，因为他们认为，不毁掉地球，就不会有可持续的增长。但是，持续的增长不一定以毁掉地球为代价。斯氏父子认为，更重要的是探究良好生活本身的意义。

　　Capitalism, they note, has “made possible vast improvements in material conditions”, but it also fuels human insatiability. One way it does this is by “increasingly ‘monetising' the economy”. Monetisation is what vexes¹³ Michael Sandel, a Harvard political philosopher, in “What Money Can't Buy”. Mr Sandel poses a single question: has the role of markets spread too far?

　　他们认为，资本主义在极大地改善了人们的物质生活条件的同时，也助长了人们贪婪的本性。其途径之一是使经济越来越“金钱化”。“金钱化”是哈佛大学哲学家迈克尔·桑德尔在《金钱买不到的东西》一书中的重点关注。桑德尔先生提出了一个问题：市场化是否已经走得太远了？

　　He argues that it has, and packs his book with examples. Some, such as the sale of a poor man's kidney for transplanting into a rich man's body, will make many people squirm. Others, such as the sale of naming rights for sports stadiums, may yield only a resigned shrug¹⁴. But almost all give pause for thought. Mr Sandel poses two objections consistently. One is inequality: the more things money can buy, the more the lack of it hurts. The other Mr Sandel calls “corruption”: buying and selling can change the way a good is perceived. Paying people to give blood does not work. Giving schoolchildren money as an incentive¹⁵ to read books may make reading a chore rather than a lifelong pleasure.

　　桑德尔认为，市场化确实太过分了，在书中他举出了很多例子。有些例子，比如穷人出卖肾脏移植于富人的身体，会使很多人感到不安。另一些例子，如体育场出卖挂名权，大概只会使人无奈地耸耸肩而已。但几乎所有的例子都令人思考。桑德斯先生在书中反复强调了他对过度市场化的两个反对意见。其一是不平等：钱能买到的东西越多，缺钱带来的伤害就越大。其二是桑德斯先生所称的“腐蚀”：买卖行为会改变人们对良好事物的看法。如对献血人付钱的办法并不能鼓励更多的人献血；用给钱来鼓励小学生阅读书籍，会使阅读成为一种负担而不是终生的乐趣。

　　Mr Sandel does not say precisely¹⁶ where he thinks the limit should lie. That should be left, he hopes, to public debate. The Skidelskys are bolder, proposing policies that would encourage the pursuit of the good life rather than endless growth: a basic income; a tax on consumption rather than income; and an end to the tax-deductibility of company spending on advertising¹⁷. This would reduce the incentive to work and the temptation to consume.

　　桑德斯先生并没有明确指出市场化的边界应当在哪里。他希望通过公众的讨论来解决这个问题。但斯氏父子在这个问题上更为激进，他们提出了一些政策建议，这些政策旨在鼓励人们追求良好生活而不是无止境的增长：有限的基本收入；用消费税取代收入税；广告支出不再计入公司的税前成本。这些措施将降低人们的工作动力和消费欲望。

　　Does the rat race always detract from the good life? Only a few years ago, it would have been hard to imagine that whole libraries of books, music and information could be summoned to a phone in your palm; yet the pursuit of profit has helped to put them there. Nevertheless, “How Much Is Enough?” is a good question. Even if just now the West could do with more, not less, GDP, the pursuit of wealth for its own sake is folly¹⁸. Anyone who sets store by capitalism and markets will find both books uncomfortable reading. They should be read all the same.

　　难道激烈的商业竞争总是良好生活的负面因素吗？几年以前，还很难想象整座图书馆的书籍、音乐和信息可以储存在一部小小的手机里，但人们对利润的追逐使它得以实现。尽管如此，“多少才算够?”仍然是一个有意义的问题。即便西方目前可以创造更多而不是更少的GDP，为了追求财富而追求财富也是愚蠢的。任何一个赞同资本主义和市场的人，都会发现这两本书读起来很不舒服，但它们还是值得读一读的。

1 longing   

n.（for）渴望

参考例句：

• Hearing the tune again sent waves of longing through her.再次听到那首曲子使她胸中充满了渴望。
• His heart burned with longing for revenge.他心中燃烧着急欲复仇的怒火。

2 capitalism   

n.资本主义

参考例句：

• The essence of his argument is that capitalism cannot succeed.他的论点的核心是资本主义不能成功。
• Capitalism began to develop in Russia in the 19th century.十九世纪资本主义在俄国开始发展。

3 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》

4 malfunction   

vi.发生功能故障，发生故障，显示机能失常

参考例句：

• There must have been a computer malfunction.一定是出了电脑故障。
• Results have been delayed owing to a malfunction in the computer.由于电脑发生故障，计算结果推迟了。

5 monetary   

adj.货币的，钱的；通货的；金融的；财政的

参考例句：

• The monetary system of some countries used to be based on gold.过去有些国家的货币制度是金本位制的。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

6 fiscal   

adj.财政的，会计的，国库的，国库岁入的

参考例句：

• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。
• The government has two basic strategies of fiscal policy available.政府有两个可行的财政政策基本战略。

7 mused   

v.沉思，冥想( muse的过去式和过去分词 )；沉思自语说（某事）

参考例句：

• \"I wonder if I shall ever see them again, \"he mused. “我不知道是否还可以再见到他们，”他沉思自问。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• \"Where are we going from here?\" mused one of Rutherford's guests. 卢瑟福的一位客人忍不住说道：‘我们这是在干什么？” 来自英汉非文学 - 科学史

8 scarcity   

n.缺乏，不足，萧条

参考例句：

• The scarcity of skilled workers is worrying the government.熟练工人的缺乏困扰着政府。
• The scarcity of fruit was caused by the drought.水果供不应求是由于干旱造成的。

9 purely   

adv.纯粹地，完全地

参考例句：

• I helped him purely and simply out of friendship.我帮他纯粹是出于友情。
• This disproves the theory that children are purely imitative.这证明认为儿童只会单纯地模仿的理论是站不住脚的。

10 blessings   

n.（上帝的）祝福( blessing的名词复数 )；好事；福分；因祸得福

参考例句：

• Afflictions are sometimes blessings in disguise. 塞翁失马，焉知非福。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We don't rely on blessings from Heaven. 我们不靠老天保佑。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

11 statistical   

adj.统计的，统计学的

参考例句：

• He showed the price fluctuations in a statistical table.他用统计表显示价格的波动。
• They're making detailed statistical analysis.他们正在做具体的统计分析。

12 wrecking   

破坏

参考例句：

• He teed off on his son for wrecking the car. 他严厉训斥他儿子毁坏了汽车。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Instead of wrecking the valley, the waters are put to use making electricity. 现在河水不但不在流域内肆疟，反而被人们用来生产电力。 来自辞典例句

13 vexes   

v.使烦恼( vex的第三人称单数 )；使苦恼；使生气；详细讨论

参考例句：

• Her continuous chatter vexes me. 她的喋喋不休使我烦透了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• His continuous chatter vexes me. 他唠叨不休，真烦死我了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

14 shrug   

v.耸肩(表示怀疑、冷漠、不知等)

参考例句：

• With a shrug,he went out of the room.他耸一下肩，走出了房间。
• I admire the way she is able to shrug off unfair criticism.我很佩服她能对错误的批评意见不予理会。

15 incentive   

n.刺激；动力；鼓励；诱因；动机

参考例句：

• Money is still a major incentive in most occupations.在许多职业中，钱仍是主要的鼓励因素。
• He hasn't much incentive to work hard.他没有努力工作的动机。

16 precisely   

adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地

参考例句：

• It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
• The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。

17 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

18 folly   

n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话

参考例句：

• Learn wisdom by the folly of others.从别人的愚蠢行动中学到智慧。
• Events proved the folly of such calculations.事情的进展证明了这种估计是愚蠢的。