2018年经济学人 过剩学问:产能过剩和产能不足(1)

 

Economics Brief

经济学简介

Six Big Ideas: Overcapacity and undercapacity

六大经济学理论：产能过剩和产能不足

Glutology

过剩的学问

The third brief in our series on big economice ideas looks at Say's law

我们有关重大经济思想系列的第三篇文章考察的是萨伊定律。

In 1804 Jean-Baptiste Say enrolled¹ in the National Conservatory² of Arts and Crafts in Paris to learn the principles of spinning cotton.

1804年，让·巴蒂斯特·萨伊在巴黎国民工艺美院报名入学，学习纺织棉花的原理。

The new student was 37 years old, points out his biographer, Evert Schoorl, with a pregnant wife, four children and a successful career in politics and letters trailing behind him.

他的传记作者艾佛特·斯库尔 （Evert Schoorl）指出，这名新学生当时已经37岁，有一位已经怀孕的妻子、4个孩子以及在政界和文坛的功成名就。

To resume his studies, he had turned down two lucrative³ offers from France's most powerful man, Napoleon Bonaparte.

为了重新开始学习，他已经拒绝了来自当时法国最有权势的人——拿破仑·波拿巴的两次厚邀。

The ruler would have paid him handsomely to write in support of his policies.

这位统治者本来要重金聘请他，让他撰写支持他的政策的文章。

But rather than “deliver orations⁴ in favour of the usurper”, Say decided⁵ instead to build a cotton mill, spinning yarn⁶ not policy.

但是，萨伊不但没有“发表美化这位篡位者的文章”，反而决定建造一座棉纺厂，纺纱织布，而不是制定政策。

Napoleon was right to value (and fear) Say's pen.

拿破仑重视（并害怕）萨伊的这支笔是对的。

As a pamphleteer, editor, scholar and adviser⁷, he was a passionate⁸ advocate for free speech, trade and markets.

作为一名小册子作者、编辑、学者和顾问，他是一位自由言论、自由贸易和自由市场的热情支持者。

He had imbibed⁹ liberal principles from his heavily annotated¹⁰ copy of Adam Smith's “The Wealth Of Nations” and bolstered¹¹ his patriotic¹² credentials¹³ in battle against Prussian invaders¹⁴. (During breaks in the fighting, he discussed literature and political economy with other learned volunteers “almost within cannonballs' reach”. )

他从他那本满是注释的亚当·斯密的《国富论》的书中汲取了自由原则，并在抗击普鲁士入侵者的战斗巩固了他的爱国者声誉（在战斗间隙，他曾与其他几位博学的自愿者“几乎是在炮弹射程之内”，讨论文学和政治经济学。）

His greatest work was “A Treatise¹⁵ on Political Economy”, a graceful¹⁶ exposition (and extension) of Smith's economic ideas.

他最伟大的作品是《政治经济学概论》（A Treatise on Political Economy），这是一部对亚当·斯密的经济学思想做出了优雅的阐释(和扩充)的著作。

In Say's time, as nowadays, the world economy combined strong technological¹⁷ progress with fitful demand, spurts¹⁸ of innovation with bouts¹⁹ of austerity.

在萨伊那个时代，如同现在一样，世界经济集强大的技术进步与断断续续的需求、创新的迸发与紧缩的发作于一身。

In France output of yarn grew by 125% from 1806 to 1808, when Say was starting his factory.

就在萨伊创办自己的工厂时，法国的纱线产出在1806年到1808年间增长了125%。

1 enrolled   

adj.入学登记了的v.[亦作enrol]( enroll的过去式和过去分词 )；登记，招收，使入伍（或入会、入学等），参加，成为成员；记入名册；卷起，包起

参考例句：

• They have been studying hard from the moment they enrolled. 从入学时起，他们就一直努力学习。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He enrolled with an employment agency for a teaching position. 他在职业介绍所登了记以谋求一个教师的职位。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 conservatory   

n.温室，音乐学院；adj.保存性的，有保存力的

参考例句：

• At the conservatory,he learned how to score a musical composition.在音乐学校里，他学会了怎样谱曲。
• The modern conservatory is not an environment for nurturing plants.这个现代化温室的环境不适合培育植物。

3 lucrative   

adj.赚钱的，可获利的

参考例句：

• He decided to turn his hobby into a lucrative sideline.他决定把自己的爱好变成赚钱的副业。
• It was not a lucrative profession.那是一个没有多少油水的职业。

4 orations   

n.（正式仪式中的）演说，演讲( oration的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The young official added a genuine note of emotion amid the pompous funeral orations. 这位年轻的高级官员，在冗长的葬礼演讲中加了一段充满感情的话。 来自辞典例句
• It has to go down as one of the great orations of all times. 它去作为一个伟大的演讲所有次。 来自互联网

5 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

6 yarn   

n.纱，纱线，纺线；奇闻漫谈，旅行轶事

参考例句：

• I stopped to have a yarn with him.我停下来跟他聊天。
• The basic structural unit of yarn is the fiber.纤维是纱的基本结构单元。

7 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

8 passionate   

adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的

参考例句：

• He is said to be the most passionate man.据说他是最有激情的人。
• He is very passionate about the project.他对那个项目非常热心。

9 imbibed   

v.吸收( imbibe的过去式和过去分词 )；喝；吸取；吸气

参考例句：

• They imbibed the local cider before walking home to dinner. 他们在走回家吃饭之前喝了本地的苹果酒。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Hester Prynne imbibed this spirit. 海丝特 - 白兰汲取了这一精神。 来自英汉文学 - 红字

10 annotated   

v.注解，注释( annotate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Thematic maps should always be annotated with the source and date of the topical information. 各类专题地图，均应注明专题资料来源和日期。 来自辞典例句
• And this is the version annotated by Umberto de Bologna. 并且这是有安博多-德-波罗格那注释的版本。 来自电影对白

11 bolstered   

v.支持( bolster的过去式和过去分词 )；支撑；给予必要的支持；援助

参考例句：

• He bolstered his plea with new evidence. 他举出新的证据来支持他的抗辩。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• The data must be bolstered by inferences and indirect estimates of varying degrees of reliability. 这些资料必须借助于推理及可靠程度不同的间接估计。 来自辞典例句

12 patriotic   

adj.爱国的，有爱国心的

参考例句：

• His speech was full of patriotic sentiments.他的演说充满了爱国之情。
• The old man is a patriotic overseas Chinese.这位老人是一位爱国华侨。

13 credentials   

n.证明，资格，证明书，证件

参考例句：

• He has long credentials of diplomatic service.他的外交工作资历很深。
• Both candidates for the job have excellent credentials.此项工作的两个求职者都非常符合资格。

14 invaders   

入侵者，侵略者，侵入物( invader的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They prepared to repel the invaders. 他们准备赶走侵略军。
• The family has traced its ancestry to the Norman invaders. 这个家族将自己的世系追溯到诺曼征服者。

15 treatise   

n.专著；(专题)论文

参考例句：

• The doctor wrote a treatise on alcoholism.那位医生写了一篇关于酗酒问题的论文。
• This is not a treatise on statistical theory.这不是一篇有关统计理论的论文。

16 graceful   

adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的

参考例句：

• His movements on the parallel bars were very graceful.他的双杠动作可帅了!
• The ballet dancer is so graceful.芭蕾舞演员的姿态是如此的优美。

17 technological   

adj.技术的；工艺的

参考例句：

• A successful company must keep up with the pace of technological change.一家成功的公司必须得跟上技术变革的步伐。
• Today,the pace of life is increasing with technological advancements.当今， 随着科技进步，生活节奏不断增快。

18 spurts   

短暂而突然的活动或努力( spurt的名词复数 )； 突然奋起

参考例句：

• Great spurts of gas shoot out of the sun. 太阳气体射出形成大爆发。
• Spurts of warm rain blew fitfully against their faces. 阵阵温热的雨点拍打在他们脸上。

19 bouts   

n.拳击（或摔跤）比赛( bout的名词复数 )；一段（工作）；（尤指坏事的）一通；（疾病的）发作

参考例句：

• For much of his life he suffered from recurrent bouts of depression. 他的大半辈子反复发作抑郁症。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• It was one of fistiana's most famous championship bouts. 这是拳击界最有名的冠军赛之一。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》