经济学家期刊文章精选20篇.docx
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经济学家期刊文章精选20篇
经济学家期刊文章精选20篇
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.
Whenaparticipantchosetheearlierrewar