河海大学研究生英语课文及翻译(重点单词突出显示,)Unit_5_Take_a_Lesson_from_the_Economists

Economics is the dismal science: so say the large number of people who heap scorn on the intelle ctural merits of the discipline. Much of the criticism comes from "pure" or "proper" scientist —— physicists, chemists and biologists. Now, economics certainly has its failings. But the general way in which economists approach and describe the world, and how they convey their message about it to others , carries lessons which pure scientists should learn from. 经济学是沉闷的科学:所以说,大量的人嗤之以鼻的方式的优点的纪律。

大部分的批评来自于“纯”或“适当的”科学家——物理学家、化学家和生物学家。

现在,经济学当然有其缺点。

但是一般的方式方法和描述这个世界的经济学家,以及他们如何传达他们的消息对其他人,上了一课,纯科学家应该学习。

Economics has inexactitudes and vagueness built into it. The general lack of reliable data about past events makes virtually impossible the accurate measurement of even the most basic econo mic variables, such as the total volume of output in a country, or the path of consumer spending, or inflation. 经济学是由不精确性和模糊性建成的。

普遍缺乏对过去事件的可靠的数据使得几乎不可能有准确的测量,即使是最基本的经济变量,如一个国家的输出总量,或者消费支出的路径,或通货膨胀。

If economists are hazy about what is going right now, they are even less sure about the future. D ue to the general measurement difficulties, as well as unforeseen events such as wars or natural disasters, economic forecasts are almost always wrong, sometimes by wide margins. As for econo mic theories, they change almost according to fashion, with economists allowed to move effortle ssly between them, sometimes holding several contrasting points of view at the same time. 如果经济学家朦胧的关于什么将会发生,现在他们更不确定的未来。

由于通用测量困难,以及不可预见的事件,如战争或自然灾害,经济预测几乎总是错的,有时是由宽的利润率。

至于经济理论,他们改变几乎根据时尚,经济学家可以毫不费力地移动它们之间,有时在同一时间持有多种截然相反的观点。

The contrast with scientists could not be starker. The tools of an economist's trade are muddy da ta, loose theorising and a shambling approach to causality which says . that a set of interactions b etween A, B and C MIGHT lead to a conclusion Z (and only via a roundabout route which takes in P, Q and R as well) . Scientists have a harder-edged way of looking at the world, requiring a set of rigid theories and data based on painstaking experimental observation.相比之下,科学家们有着天壤之别。

经济学家的贸易工具是泥泞的数据,松散理论和呆滞的因果性说。

这一组之间的交互,B和C可能导致结论Z(和只能通过一个迂回路线,需要在P,Q,R)。

科学家们有一个硬朗的看待世界的方式,需要一套严格的理论和基于细心的实验观察的数据。

But the economists have been able to use the vagueness with which their subject is afflicted to their advantage. By concentrating on broad conclusions to problems and communicating these in terms that can be understood by the special interest groups they are dealing with, economists ha ve had a generally good record in "assimilating themselves into positions of influence. Scientists h ave done rather less well by concentrating on the nature of problems rather than on the conclusi ons or policy prescripitons.但是，经济学家们已经能够使用的模糊性，其主题是困扰自己的优势。

通过专注于广泛的问题结论和交流这些条款,可以理解他们正在处理的特殊利益集团,,经济学家有一个普遍的良好记录在“同化成具有影响力的位置上。

科学家们已经做得相当不那么专注于问题的本质,而是结论或政策规定。

All this explains why, in British at least, economists as a body of people have had muchmore suc cess in purely professional terms over the past 20 years than scientists. 所有这些都解释了为什么至少在英国,在过去20年经济学家作为一个群体比科学家有更多的成功在纯粹的专业术语
方面。

Take the posts in the Britain government of chief scientific adviser and chief economist. In the fir st position, Bill Stewart has a thin power base, playing a marginal role in providing scientific advic e to dozens of government departments. The second job takes the "incumbent to the centre of th e government's decision-making machinery in the Treasury, and into involvement with many of th e most important decisions ministers make about how Britain should operate. 以作为英国政府的首席科学顾问和首席经济学家的职位。

在第一个位置,比尔·斯图尔特有一层稀薄的权力基础,扮演一个次要角色为数十政府部门提供科学建议。

第二个工作需要，在财政部的政府决策机制的中心，到参与的最重要的决定部长，英国应该如何操作进行。

In industry, top scientists working for big firms such as ICI or IBM certainly are in strong positions . But the ability of such people to influence events is put into the shade by the power of economi sts working for the big international banks and investment houses in the City of London. The bro ad judgments of these people about global economic patterns, transmitted by numerous direct a nd indirect ways, form a key component of thousands of decisions made at company level at the grass roots of industry.在工业领域，顶尖的科学家工作在大公司如ICI或IBM肯定是在强有力的位置。

但是这样的人影响事件的能力是通过经济学家在伦敦对国际大银行和投资公司工作来实现的。

这些人对全球经济模式的大致的判断,通过大量的直接和间接的方式,形成在公司层面基层产业的重要组成部分。

How did economists get to be in this position - and what can scientists learn from them? Despite the difficulty in arriving at hard answers to many of the problems in economics, people in the dis cipline have shown an ability to skim over the inexactitudes, to come up with a general view of t he world in terms that are relevant and make sense to those outside the profession. 经济学家如何会在这个位置,科学家可以从他们那儿学到了什么?尽管经济中存在的许多问题很难回答，本学科的人们表现出掠过不确切性问题的能力，要明确拿出一个通用的世界观，并对行业以外的有意义。

As an example, consider a single topic of relevance to a wide body of people—the flow of capital around the world. Finding out about where all the world's money is going (and why and how and at what rate) is of obvious importance to anyone interested in investment decisions and the com petitive advantages of specific nations over others. 作为一个例子,考虑与单个主题人力相关的问题-世界各地的资本流动。

找到世界上所有的钱是怎么花的(和为什么，怎样以及以什么速率),对每一个有兴趣投资决策的人和特定国家竞争优势非常重要
Every few miuntes, banks and other institutions are switching hundreds of millions of dollars fro m country to country in a pattern that is far from clear. The goal on each 'transaction is to move money into a region where the returns are higher and so chalk up a profit. Working out what is g oing on in this vast exercise, and the important influences that are at play, is vital to understandin g a host of issues involving the buildup of wealth in the modern world. 每隔几分钟,银行和其他机构在不同国家交换数亿美元,以一个目前仍不清楚的模式。

每个交易的目标是将资金投入到一个回报是更高的地区并记下收益。

找出在这场大转移中发生了什么，以及产生了多大的影响，在理解一系列在现代世界中积聚财富的问题中至关重要。

The "pure science" way of approaching this problem would be to attempt to collect data from all the banks and regulatory authorities participating in money transfer, and thence gain a sum of all the capital flows - from which appropriate conclusions could be drawn. The economist would rec ognise that the task of measuring and collecting the data is well nigh impossible.“纯科学”的方式处理这个问题是尝试收集来自所有的银行和监管当局参与转账的数据,那里获得一笔所有
的资本流动——从哪能得出相关的结论。

经济学家也会承认,这项任务的测量和收集数据几乎是不可能的。

Using the fairly "paltry statistics that are available, and some "judicious averaging out and guess work, the economist would gain a rough idea about the shape of the world's money flow. From t his would flow a convincing argument about the policy dimension to the problem - such as how t he balance of interest rates between several countries made a specific course of action, as relate d to funds transfer, either less or more appropriate - in a relevant way. The scientific way is to thr ow everything at the problem and be less concerned at the prescription that follows; with the ec onomist the balance is the other way round. 使用相当微不足道的有效的统计数据,通过一些明智的均衡和猜测,经济学家将获得一个世界货币流动大致估计。

这将引出一个关于政策方面的令人信服论点的问题,比如如何通过一系列的行动平衡几个国家之间的利率,因为涉及资本转移,要么少或更适当的——以一种合理的方式。

科学的方法是考虑问题的所有因素,不考虑其遵循的原则;与经济学家的平衡是倒过来的。

What can pure scientists gain from this study of the "dismal science"? When necessary, they sh ould reject exact approach, take a broader view, study conclusions and how to implement them a nd above all learn better communications skills. There are some signs of such things happening. T here is a general move in certain sections of academia and industry towards the concept of the multidisciplinary scientist, one who can take in to a world view bits of physics, chemistry and biol ogy as well as general knowledge about business, marketing and finance.纯正的科学家可以从这种“忧郁科学”的研究中得到什么?必要时,他们应该拒绝精确的方法,采取一个更广泛的观点,研究结论和如何实现它们,重要的是学习更好的沟通技巧。

有一些迹象显示这样的事情发生。

在学术界和工业界关于综合学科科学家的概念有一个普遍进步，就是一个融合了物理、化学和生物学以及商业，市场，金融等综合知识的学科。

Even at a basic single-discipline scientific level, more efforts are being made to consider proble ms as part of a multi-faceted general inquiry - in risk analysis, for example, where it is acceptable to state that there is a certain chance that something might happen, rather than will happen. Per haps, in theme, academic establishments will start to offer degree courses in general science com bined with economics such courses at the moment are thin on the ground.
即使在一个基本的单一学科的科学水平层面,更多的努力正考虑将问题作为多层面普遍分析的一部分，在风险分析领域,例如,在哪里接受的状态,有一定的几率可能发生的事情,而不是将会发生。

或许,在主题,学术机构应该开始提供结合经济学以及一般科学的学位课程;这样的课程目前是寥寥无几。