金融英语考试:有限的资源和基本经济问题

金融英语考试:有限的资源和基本经济问题

A resource may be defined as anything used to produce goods or services. Resources may be tangible， such as a pig iron， machine tools， and the inputs which may be combined to produce outputs， where the outputs may be either consumer goods or inputs to other producers， while production may be defined as the process itself The original and fundamental resource in every economy is the human mind， which develops the technology or the knowledge for combining resources most efficiently to produce useful commodities， and through time， technology has expanded as man has experimented with completely new ways to produce， or has improved existing techniques. However， at any point in time， the existing stock of knowledge or the state of industrial technology is given，and the quantity of tangible and intangible resources is fixed in amount. Even if all resources are used at maximum efficiency， the economy can produce only so much In general， the volume of output possible with an economy’s existing resources and available technology is circumscribed at every point in time.

When the fact of unlimited consumer demand is coupled with that of limited resources and technology， we are faced with the fundamental problem of economics： allocating scarce

resources among alternative uses for these resources. It is conceivable that human ingenuity will ultimately prove greater in production than in consumption， that there will someday be enough resources， and the technology to use them， to satiate completely all consumers in society. If so， scarcity will be at an end~ and economics will be obsolete. Until this occurs， however， societies will have to face the age-old problem of allocating their scarce resource among the alternative uses for these resources， in a way that is socially optimal. This fundamental economic problem in turn gives rise to five basic questions which ail societies must answer：

1. What commodities to produce？

2. How much of each to produce？

3. What productive techniques to use and how to provide incentives？

4. How to distribute the output among the various members of society？

5. What provision to make for the future？

Though our interest is principally in a market economy， these five questions will be answered by every society， whether it consciously seeks to answer them or not. In addition， these questions are applicable to all societies， regardless of whether they are directed by tradition， as are primitive societies， by central planning， as are socialistic societies， by market decisions， as are capitalistic societies， or by a combination of all the above， as are most real-world societies. A purely market economy automatically provides answers to all of these questions， although the market’s solution to question 4 is not always considered ethically correct， and the market system may not always provide answers to 1， 2， and 5 that are socially acceptable. In our economy， a major proportion of the decisions on the basic questions are made in output and resource markets. For example， the number of automobiles to produce each year is essentially market determined. However， for many decisions bearing on the basic questions， the market is provided with special inducements to encourage the use of more resources in a given activity， or with restrictions to reduce the use of resources in another. At other points decisions are made centrally， for example， the quantity of legal heroin to be produced and consumed in our economy is determined by central authorities， presumably on the basis of medical needs.

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凡是可以生产商晶或者提供服务的东西，都可以划归资源范畴。资源可以是有形的东西，如铁锭，工作母机以及可以配合起来制造产品的种种投人物：这类产品可以是消费品，也可以是供其他厂家使用的种种投入物，而生产本身可以看为一种过程。在所有的经济社会中，固有的基本资源是人的才智，因为它能提高生产技术或知识，对各种资源进行高效率配合，生产各种实用商品——时间证明，人们一直在试验崭新的生产方法，改良现有的工艺，因此生产技术一直在向前发展。不过，在任何时候，现有的知识积累和生产技术的状态都已成定局，而有形资源和无形资源的数量也是固定的。即使所有的资源都加以高度利用，经济社会也只能生产出那么多东西。总之，一个经济社会利用其现有资源和可用的生产技术所能赢得的生产量，在每一个特定时间里都是有一定限度的。流量计

消费者的无限需求一旦遇上了有限的资源和生产技术，我们就要面临这样一种经济学中的基本问题：要在资源利用的种种途径中进行选择，分配好这些稀少资源。我们可以这样设想：最后必将证实，人类在生产方面的创造性要比消费方面高明，因此总有一天会取得足够的资源以及利用这些资源的生产技术，使社会中的所有消费者都得到高度满足。果能如此，资源不足的局面必将结束，经济学也必然要宣告作废。不过，在这种局面到来之前，社会还必须对这个由来已久的老问题毅然承当；采取一种非常适应社会发展的方式，在这些稀有资源的各种利用上作好安排。这一基本经济问题本身又引起五个基本问题，所有社会都必须作出回答：

1、生产哪些商品？

2、每种商品生产多少？

3、使用什么生产技术，如何鼓励增产？

4、在千差万别的社会成员中间如何分配产品？

5、对未来要作什么准备？

我们所关注的主要是市场经济，但对这五个问题，每一个社会不管它是否有意寻求它们的答案，都要对之作出问答。而且，由传统支配的原始社会也罢，实行中央计划的社会主义社会也罢，市场决定一切的资本主义社会也罢，或是现实世界中综合上述一切的大多数社会也罢——所有的社会都适应这些问题。纯市场经济能自动地回答所有这些问题，不过对问题4的市场解决方法，从道德角度上看，未必认为合理，而市场制对1、2、5三个问题也未必总能提出社会可以接受的答案。在我国的经济体制中，这些基本问题大部分要取决于产品市场和资源市场。例如，每年生产汽车的数量实质上是由市场决定的。不过，对有关基本问题的许多决定来说，市场具有种种特殊的诱导作用，鼓励把较多资源投入某项特定的生产之中，也可以起种种节制作用，使资源在别的生产上降低消耗。还有一些情况，各项决定则要由中央作出。例如，合法海洛因的生产数量和消费数量，在我国经济制度中要由中央各有关当局决定，大概要在医疗需要的基础上进行考虑。