经济学家精选20篇.docx

经济学家精选20篇.docx

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经济学家精选20篇

经济学家期刊文章精选20篇

（含参考译文）

1、Education

Snootyorwhat?

Oct14th2004FromTheEconomistprintedition

Invertedsnobberypreventsgoodteachersgoingwherethey'reneeded

ACLEVERmanwantstodoagoodthing,butthewickedgovernmentstopshim.Thatisthescandalous-soundingstoryofthedifficultiesencounteredbyTristramJones-Parry,headoffee-payingWestminsterSchool,oneofthebestinthecountry.Heretiresnextyearandwantstohelpteachmathsinastateschool.

Washewelcomedwithopenarms?

No.Hewastold,hecomplains,thathewouldneedretrainingforthestatesystem.ItwasasimilarstoryforDavidWolfe,aretiredAmericanphysicsprofessorwhoteachesinaBritishstateschool.HesaidthisweekthattheauthoritiestoldhimtosittheGCSEmathsexamnormallytakenby16-year-oldsifhewantedtocontinue.

Thesystemisnotquiteasinsaneasthismightsuggest.Therulesthatrequirestate-schoolteacherstobeformallyqualifieddohaveexceptions.TheTeacherTrainingAgencyinsiststhatMrJones-Parrycouldgainhisticketinjustaday,byhavinganassessorfromthestatesystemobservehisworkatWestminster（arequirementscarcelylessludicrousthanthesupposeddemandforretraining）.MrWolfe'sAmericanPhDwouldcountasanequivalenttotheGCSEmathspassnormallyrequired.Sohewouldscrapebyaswell.TheGeneralTeachingCouncil,anotherquango,hasnowapologisedtoMrJones-Parryforgivinghimthewronginformationatfirst,andthenleavinghisfollow-upletterunansweredforsixweeks.

Therealstoryisthegulfbetweenthetwokindsofschool.HeadslikeMrJones-Parryhireteacherswithgoodacademiccredentialsbutnotnecessarilywithstatequalifications.State-schoolhiringiscloselyregulated;theirteachersneedtobeexpertform-fillersandjargon-wielders,andaremuchlesslikelytohavegooddegrees:

indeedonly38%ofstate-schoolmathsteachershaveadegreeinthesubject;inindependentschools,63%do.

Soit'snotsurprisingthatprivate-schoolteachersthinkeventhemostnominalbarrierstotheirteachinginstateschoolsareoffensiveandsilly.Theothersiderespondsinkind:

teachingunionsthisweeksaidsnidelythatMrJones-Parrymightbegoodatteachingadvancedmathstowell-behavedbrightkids,butwouldnotnecessarilyknowhowtoteachsimplesumstorowdy,dimones.Perhaps.Butmanystate-schoolparentsdesperatelyseekingbettermathsteachingfortheirchildrenmightconsiderthatriskrathersmall.

2、Parentsandchildren

Familyvalues

Sep30th2004FromTheEconomistprintedition

Richkidshavelittletimefortheirelderlyparents.Theingratitude!

WHYwasKingLeartreatedsocruellybyhisdaughters?

Untilrecently,mostoftheanswershavecomefromscholarswithscantknowledgeofeconomictheory.Fortunately,JohnErmisch,anEssexeconomist,isworkingtoremedythisdeficiency.Hisresearchproveswhatmanyparentshavelongsuspected—thatincreasedwealthgoesalongwithfilialingratitude.–Topicsentence

UsingdatafromtheBritishHouseholdPanelSurvey,MrErmischshowsthataffluentparentsareslightlymorelikelytosupplyoffspringwithmoneyandhelpwithchild-rearingthanpoorparents.Butsuccessseemstohavepreciselytheoppositeeffectonchildren.Themerepossessionofauniversitydegreemakeschildren20%lesslikelytophonetheirmothersregularly,andmorethan50%lesslikelytopaythemavisit.

Thisispuzzlingbecauseself-interestedchildrenmightbeexpectedtobehaveinpreciselytheoppositeway.Mostwealthypeoplearedescendedfromwealthyparents,whichmeanstheyhavealotofpatrimonytolosebycuttingbackonthefawning.“Nothingwillcomeofnothing,”asapre-retirementandstillsaneKingLearputitwhenhisyoungestdaughterdaredtowithholdheraffections.

Sowhyarerichkidssuchbrats?

Therearetwolikelyexplanations.Thefirstisthat,astheirincomerises,themarginalcostofprovidingservicesgoesup.Itsimplyisn'tworththeirwhiletohelpwiththeshopping,particularlysinceaffluencetendstoincreasedistancesbetweenparentsandchildren.And,sincepersonalcontactcorrelateswithtelephonecontact,theyarelesslikelytophone,too.Outofsight,outofmind.

Anotheranswercomesfromanobscurebranchofeconomicsknownasstrategicbequesttheory.Thispredictsthatchildrenwillprovideonlyenoughservicestoensuretheygetareasonableshareoftheinheritance.Butthatpointisreachedsoonerbythosewhohaveonlyonesiblingrival,ornoneatall.Wealthierfamilies,whichtendtobesmaller,simplyfailtoensuretheoptimumamountofcompetition.

Giventheseironlaws,whatareparentssupposedtodo?

Goodresultsmightbeachievedbyhavingmorechildren,orexpressingasuddeninterestinthelocalcats'home.ButMrErmischisnotoptimistic.“Theonlythingtheycandoisfollowtheirchildrenaround,”hesays.Anddon'tmakeKingLear'smistakebyhandingoverthecashfirst.

3、Theinternet

AliveandkickingSep23rd2004FromTheEconomistprintedition

Competitionstillexistsontheweb

JUSTwhenyouthoughtyouknewtheweb,alongcomenewcompetitorstokeepthingsinteresting.OnSeptember15th,anewsearchenginecalledAwasunveiledbyAmazon,thegiantinternetretailer.ItrepackagesGoogle'ssearchresults,butwithusefultweaks.Searchesnotonlycallupwebsitesandimagesonthesamepage,butotherreferences,suchasAmazon'sbooksearch,theInternetMovieDatabase,andencyclopaediaanddictionaryreferences.Moreover,itkeepstrackofusers'searchhistories—animportantinnovationassearchbecomesmorepersonalised.

ManyhadassumedthemarketwasstitchedupbyGoogleandYahoo!

（whoaccountforover90%ofsearches）,barringtheexpectedentranceofMicrosoft.Likewise,themarketforonlinemusicseemedsettled:

Apple'siTunesistheleader,itsmainrivalsbeingRealNetworksandMicrosoft'sMSNMusic.Yetthis,too,understatesthepotentialforbattle.Lastweek,Yahoo!

boughtMusicmatch,anonlinemusicretailerandsoftwarefirm,for$160m.Musicdownloadsarenowworthroughly$310mannuallybutareforecasttogrowto$4.6billionby2008,accordingtoForresterResearch,sothereisroomfornewfirmstosprout.

Meanwhile,themostsurprisingnewcompetitionisinwebbrowsers.Microsoftwastheundisputedchamp（Informal：

=Achampion）,afterbundlingInternetExplorerwithitsWindowsoperatingsysteminthe1990sanddestroyingNetscape.However,Microsoft'sbrowserissovulnerabletoattacksbyonlinecrooksandvarioustroublemakersthattheAmericanandGermangovernmentshaverecommendedthatusersconsideralternatives.Thishasbeenaboontotwosmallbrowser-makers,Opera,aNorwegiansoftwarecompany,andMozilla,whichdevelopedtheFirefoxbrowserbasedonanopen-sourceversionofNetscape.Firefoxboasted1mdownloadswithin100hoursofitsreleaseonSeptember14th.

Securityhasbecomethemaincompetitivedifference.ThesoftwareofbothOperaandMozillaisconsideredsafer（partlybecausetheyhavefewerusersandsoarealessattractivetargetforhackers）.Microsoft'sshareofthebrowsermarkethasactuallyshrunkoverthepastthreemonthsfromaround96%to94%.Itisahighlysymbolicphenomenon,albeitamodestdecrease.EvenGoogleisthoughttobetoyingwiththeideaoflaunchingitsownbrowser.

Underlyingthisrippleofcompetitionistheabilityoflargecompaniesthatalreadybenefitfromeconomiesofscaletoextendintonewareas,saysHalVarian,aneconomistattheUniversityofCaliforniaatBerkeley.ThatexplainsAmazon'sA9searchserviceandYahoo!

'smoveintomusic.Asforbrowsers,“Microsofthadalockonthemarketandjustdroppedtheball.Microsofthasn'tprovidedanyinnovationinthebrowserareaandtheyhadpoorsecurity,”hesays.Themessage:

watchyourback.（1—俗语：

擦亮你的眼睛；2—Microsoft的一款软件，用来阻挡可疑信息或过大邮件。

这里一语双关，反讽十足。

）

4、Brainscanning

Nohidingplace

Oct28th2004|SANDIEGOFromTheEconomistprintedition

Studiesusingfunctionalbrain-imagingtakeonsophisticatedtopics

FEWrecentinnovationshavetransformedafieldofresearchasmuchasfunctionalmagnetic-resonanceimaging（fMRI）.Thetechniquehasrevolutionisedthestudyofthehumanbrain.Bymakingvisibletheinvisible（theactivityofdifferentbitsofthelivingbrainonasecond-by-secondbasis）,ithasrevolutionisedthestudyofthatorgan.Butwhatstartedoutasamedicalinstrumentisnowusedroutinelytoprobecomplexquestionsaboutbehaviourandmotivation.ThatwasthelessonoftwostudiespresentedtoameetingoftheSocietyforNeuroscience,heldinSanDiegoearlierthisweek.

Inoneofthestudies,JonathanCohen,ofPrincetonUniversity,andhiscolleaguestriedtoexplainananomalythathasbeennaggingeconomistsfordecades.Ifhumanswerefullyrational（atleast,rationalinthewaythateconomistsdefinetheword）,theywouldattachthesamemonetaryvaluetoaweek'sdelayinreceivingapayment,regardlessofwhenthatweekbegan.So,ifsomeoneisoffered$10atthebeginningofanygivenweek,or$11attheendofit,heshouldmakethesamechoice,whetherthatweekstartsnoworayearfromnow.Butthatturnsoutnottobehowmostpeoplejudgeit.Inmostcases,theywilltakethe$10todaybutthe$11inayearandaweek.

DrCohenreasonedthatthisinconsistencymightreflecttheinfluenceofdifferentneuralsystemsinthebrain.Totestthis,herecruited14students,thetraditionalworkhorsesinsuchstudies.Whilelyinginhisbrainscanner,thestudentswereofferedthechoiceofreceivinganAgiftcertificateworthsomewherebetween$5and$40immediately,orgettingoneworth1%to50%moreinacoupleofweeks'time.

Whenaparticipantchosetheearlier