智慧人生篇章 第54期:市场经济中的价值观

　　The government and the Labour Party disagreed yesterday about what sort of enquiry there should be into the Libor scandal, but they both agreed there're needs to be such an enquiry. Something went wrong and it's important to find out why. What interests me, however, is a very much bigger question. Something's gone profoundly wrong, not just with the banks, but with so much else in recent years: MP's expenses, phone hacking¹, financial mis-selling and the widespread irresponsibility that brought the whole financial pack of cards come tumbling down.

　　政府和工党昨日就对对伦敦银行同业拆放利率丑闻进行何种调查一事产生分歧，但他们都认为应该对此进行调查。当发现问题时找出原因是十分重要的。然而，让我感兴趣的是一个更大的问题。我们在某方面真是大错特错，不仅仅是银行业，近几年我们在其他许多方面都犯了严重的错误，如：议员开销、电话截听、不当销售以及普遍存在的不负责任的态度，令整个金融牌堆摇摇欲坠。

　　What's gone wrong? And how did we get into this terrible state? There're some very interesting answers now beginning to emerge, particularly, I think from the Harvard Professor Michael Sandel. Here's just one of the vivid examples from his latest book. In Israel on one day in a year students go from house to house collecting for good causes. Some economists² decided³ to conduct an experiment. One group of students were given a motivating speech and sent on their way. Two other groups were promised a personal bonus on all they collected. This did not come out of the money given for good causes. What the economists discovered is that the group who acted on a purely⁴ voluntary basis collected as much as 55% more than those who were given a personal financial reward. Sandel's first point is that economic incentives⁵ might not even work from an economic point of view, but his main theme is that they can crowd out and undermine precious values, like doing something good for its own sake, or a sense of service to society. If Sandel is right and our most fundamental values are being eroded⁶ by giving everything in life a monetary⁷ value, this has, I think, huge implications for the market itself. For as the great founding father of modern capitalism⁸ Adam Smith stressed time and again, the market depends on non-market values like honesty and trust.

　　到底哪里出了错？我们是怎样陷入如此糟糕的境地的？目前，开始出现了一些有趣的答案，我认为最有意思的当属哈佛大学教授迈克尔·桑德尔的回答。他在最新的书中举了一个非常生动的例子。在以色列，学生每年要在某天挨家挨户地募集善款。一些经济学家决定做一项实验。他们让其中一组学生在出发前听了一场激动人心的演讲。他们还向另外两组学生做出保证，要根据募集到的捐款额给他们发放个人奖金。奖金不来自募捐得到的资金。经济学家发现纯粹自愿募集善款的小组比获得个人奖励的小组筹得的捐款多55%。桑德尔的第一个观点就是，从经济的角度上来看，就连经济刺激都并非有效。不过他的主要观点是经济刺激可能会排挤并且损害一些珍贵的价值观，比如全心全意地做善事或者服务社会。如果桑德尔是正确的，如果给生活中的每件事赋予货币价值会使我们最基本的价值观受到侵蚀，那么，我认为这一观点对市场本身而言意义重大。因为，正如同现代资本主义的鼻祖亚当·斯密再三强调的那样，市场取决于像诚信和信任这样的非市场化的价值观。

　　By seeing everything in economic terms we are undermining the very values on which the market itself depends. Sometimes when particularly depressed⁹ about the worst effects of market capitalism and I wonder if there is a better way, I go back and remind myself of why markets exist at all. People come together in a local town to sell eggs, chickens and vegetables to get cash so that they in their turn can buy other food, animals and other goods. The market is a human contrivance so that we can all live, and live better than if we were simply on our own. It's a means to an end not an end in itself. To adapt the words of Jesus, the market exists for humans and not humans for the market. It has to be set within that wider frame of reference of human community and those values on which all human community depends.

　　如果用经济术语来看待每一件事，我们就正在损害市场所依赖的价值观。有时，当对市场资本主义所造成的严重后果灰心丧气，很想知道是否有更好的方法时，我回过头提醒自己市场究竟为何存在。人们前往当地的市区靠卖鸡蛋、小鸡和蔬菜赚钱，这样他们才能购买其它的食物、动物和商品。市场是人们创造出的产物，它让我们得以生存，使我们能更好地独自生活。市场是通向终点的途径，但不是终点本身。把耶稣的话做一下改动，市场为人存在，而并非人为市场存在。这一理念必须设定在人类社会的准则以及其所依赖的价值观中。

1 hacking   

n.非法访问计算机系统和数据库的活动

参考例句：

• The patient with emphysema is hacking all day. 这个肺气肿病人整天不断地干咳。
• We undertook the task of hacking our way through the jungle. 我们负责在丛林中开路。

2 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》

3 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。

4 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。

5 incentives   

激励某人做某事的事物( incentive的名词复数 )； 刺激； 诱因； 动机

参考例句：

• tax incentives to encourage savings 鼓励储蓄的税收措施
• Furthermore, subsidies provide incentives only for investments in equipment. 更有甚者，提供津贴仅是为鼓励增添设备的投资。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

6 eroded   

adj. 被侵蚀的，有蚀痕的 动词erode的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• The cliff face has been steadily eroded by the sea. 峭壁表面逐渐被海水侵蚀。
• The stream eroded a channel in the solid rock. 小溪在硬石中侵蚀成一条水道。

7 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。

8 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。

9 depressed   

adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的

参考例句：

• When he was depressed,he felt utterly divorced from reality.他心情沮丧时就感到完全脱离了现实。
• His mother was depressed by the sad news.这个坏消息使他的母亲意志消沉。