來源A Course Load for the Game of Life
譯者maomaoniu

A Course Load for the Game of Life

生活競(jìng)技場(chǎng)中的必修課

AS a Harvard professor who teaches introductory economics, I have the delightful assignment of greeting about 700 first-year students every fall. And this year, I am sending the first of my own children off to college. Which raises these questions: What should they be learning? And what kind of foundation is needed to understand and be prepared for the modern economy?

做為一名在哈佛大學(xué)教授經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)入門的教授，我非常高興的擔(dān)任每年秋天迎接大約700新生入校的工作。而今年秋天，我要送我的第一個(gè)孩子上大學(xué)。 這就使我想到了如下問題：他們應(yīng)該學(xué)什么？為了理解和應(yīng)對(duì)現(xiàn)代經(jīng)濟(jì)，哪些基礎(chǔ)課程是必須的呢？

Here is my advice for students of all ages:

下面是我對(duì)大學(xué)各年級(jí)學(xué)生的建議。

LEARN SOME ECONOMICS You knew this was coming. Perhaps I am just trying to protect my profession’s market share, but I hope it is more than that.

學(xué)一點(diǎn)經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)。你知道這正變成一種趨勢(shì)。這么說也許是由于我的職業(yè)偏好，能使有更多的人學(xué)習(xí)經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)，但我希望遠(yuǎn)不止這些。

The great economist Alfred Marshall called economics “the study of mankind in the ordinary business of life.” When students leave school, “the ordinary business of life” will be their most pressing concern. If the current moribund economy turns into a lost decade, as some economists fear it might, it will be crucial to be prepared for it.

There may be no better place than a course in introductory economics. It helps students understand the whirlwind of forces swirling around them. It develops rigorous analytic skills that are useful in a wide range of jobs. And it makes students better citizens, ready to evaluate the claims of competing politicians. For those who have left college behind, it is not too late to learn. Pick up an economics textbook (mine would be a fine choice), and you might find yourself learning more than you imagined.

偉大的經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)家Afred Marshall將經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)稱為“在生活中的日常事務(wù)里對(duì)人類進(jìn)行的研究”。當(dāng)學(xué)生們畢業(yè)離開學(xué)校，“生活中的日常事物”就會(huì)成為他們最迫切需要關(guān)心的。那么做好應(yīng)對(duì)的準(zhǔn)備，就非常重要。經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)入門課程也許就是再好不過的途徑了。他可以幫助同學(xué)們了解渦旋在周圍的各種力量的強(qiáng)勁性，養(yǎng)成在很多工作中都很有用處的嚴(yán)格的分析技巧。同時(shí)通過學(xué)習(xí)此課程，可以使學(xué)生成為一個(gè)更好的公民做好準(zhǔn)備，能夠判斷和評(píng)估相互之間競(jìng)爭(zhēng)的政客的言論。對(duì)于那些已經(jīng)畢業(yè)的同學(xué)來說，現(xiàn)在學(xué)習(xí)經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)也為時(shí)不晚。找一本經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)的教材（我編著的那一本就是一個(gè)不錯(cuò)的選擇），然后你會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)學(xué)到的遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)超乎你的想象。

Not convinced? Even if you are a skeptic of my field, as many are, there is another, more cynical reason to study it. As the economist Joan Robinson once noted, one purpose of studying economics is to avoid being fooled by economists.

仍然沒有說服你么？即使像其他許多人一樣，你對(duì)我所研究的領(lǐng)域持懷疑態(tài)度，那么還有另外一個(gè)理由讓你學(xué)習(xí)經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)，經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)家Joan Robinson 曾經(jīng)說過，學(xué)習(xí)經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)的一個(gè)目的就是不會(huì)被經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)家所愚弄。

LEARN SOME STATISTICS High school mathematics curriculums spend too much time on traditional topics like Euclidean geometry and trigonometry. For a typical person, these are useful intellectual exercises but have little applicability to daily life. Students would be better served by learning more about probability and statistics.

學(xué)一點(diǎn)統(tǒng)計(jì)學(xué) 高中數(shù)學(xué)課的大部分時(shí)間都是花在了歐幾里得幾何和三角法一些傳統(tǒng)的課題上。對(duì)一個(gè)人來說，這些是有益于鍛煉智力的練習(xí)，但是卻很少能在日常生活中應(yīng)用。而多學(xué)一些概率和統(tǒng)計(jì)學(xué)會(huì)對(duì)學(xué)生更用好處。

One thing the modern computer age has given everyone is data. Lots and lots of data. There is a large leap, however, between having data and learning from it. Students need to know the potential of number-crunching, as well as its limitations. All college students are well advised to take one or more courses in statistics, at least until high schools update what they teach.

現(xiàn)代計(jì)算機(jī)時(shí)代擺在每個(gè)人面前的一件事情是接觸海量的數(shù)據(jù)。然而獲取數(shù)據(jù)和從中學(xué)習(xí)直接有很大的跨越。學(xué)生需要了解倒弄數(shù)據(jù)的潛力，以及他的局限性。所有的大學(xué)學(xué)生都被建議學(xué)習(xí)一門或者更多門關(guān)于統(tǒng)計(jì)學(xué)的課程。

LEARN SOME FINANCE With the rise of 401(k) plans and the looming problems with Social Security, Americans are increasingly in charge of their own financial future. But are they up to the task?

Few high school students graduate with the tools needed to make smart choices. Indeed, many enter college without knowing, for instance, what stocks and bonds are, what risks and returns these assets offer, and how best to manage those risks.

學(xué)習(xí)一點(diǎn)金融。隨著401k計(jì)劃的提出和隱現(xiàn)的社會(huì)安全問題，美國(guó)人逐漸掌控他們自己的財(cái)政前景。但是他們完全能勝任這項(xiàng)工作了么？

有很少的高中生，畢業(yè)時(shí)能夠擁有足夠知識(shí)使他們可以做出明確的選擇。的確，有很多人在升入大學(xué)時(shí)，還不知道什么是股票和證券，這些資產(chǎn)能帶來哪些風(fēng)險(xiǎn)和回報(bào)，以及如何來控制這些風(fēng)險(xiǎn)。

The evidence of financial naïveté shows up every time some company goes belly up. Whether it is Enron or Lehman Brothers, many company employees are often caught with a large fraction of their wealth in a single stock. They fail to heed the most basic lesson of finance — that diversification provides a free lunch. It reduces risk without lowering expected return.

每每當(dāng)公司陷入困境時(shí)，這種對(duì)金融知識(shí)匱乏的弊端就會(huì)顯露。無論是在安然公司還是雷曼兄弟，許多公司員工經(jīng)常將自己的大部分資金都投資在一支股票上。他們都忽略了一個(gè)最基本的金融常識(shí)：多元化的投資可以帶來免費(fèi)的午餐，因?yàn)檫@減少了投資的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)但是并沒降低預(yù)期的回報(bào)。

College is an investment with a great return. The gap between the wages of college graduates and those with only high school diplomas is now large by historical standards. If those college grads are going to manage their earnings intelligently, they need to study the fundamentals of financial decision making.

大學(xué)是一項(xiàng)有很大回報(bào)的投資。大學(xué)畢業(yè)生與只有高中文憑的人之間的工資差別目前主要是由他們不同的教育經(jīng)歷產(chǎn)生的。如果大學(xué)畢業(yè)們想通過他們所學(xué)的知識(shí)來改變他們的收入，他們就需要學(xué)習(xí)一些關(guān)于金融決策方面的基礎(chǔ)知識(shí)。

LEARN SOME PSYCHOLOGY Economists like me often pretend that people are rational. That is, with mathematical precision, people are assumed to do the best they can to achieve their goals.

學(xué)一點(diǎn)心理學(xué) 像我這樣的經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)家經(jīng)常假設(shè)人們都是理智的。也就是說，根據(jù)精確的數(shù)學(xué)推算，人們被假定可以以他們最好的方式來實(shí)現(xiàn)他們的目標(biāo)。

For many purposes, this approach is useful. But it is only one way to view human behavior. A bit of psychology is a useful antidote to an excess of classical economics. It reveals flaws in human rationality, including your own.

這個(gè)方法對(duì)于許多目的是有效地。但是這是觀察人類行為的唯一方式。心理學(xué)是對(duì)古典經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)的矯正劑。心理學(xué)揭露了人類理性上的缺點(diǎn)，當(dāng)然也包括你自己。

This is one lesson I failed to heed when I was in college. I never took a single psychology course as an undergrad. But after the birth of behavioral economics, which infuses psychology into economics, I remedied that mistake. Several years ago, as a Harvard faculty member, I audited an introductory psychology course taught by Steven Pinker. I don’t know if it made me a better economist. But it has surely made me a more humble one, and, I suspect, a better human being as well.

我在大學(xué)時(shí)，忽略了心理學(xué)這一課程。知道大學(xué)畢業(yè)，我從未參加過一門心理學(xué)方面的課程。但是自從產(chǎn)生了心理經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)，他把心理學(xué)融合到了經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)當(dāng)中，我修正了這個(gè)錯(cuò)誤：幾年前，做為一名哈佛大學(xué)的教職工，我旁聽了Steven Pinker 的心理學(xué)入門課程。我不知道我是否因此變成了一名更好的經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)家，但是可以肯定的是，這使我更加謙遜，更好的做人。

IGNORE ADVICE AS YOU SEE FIT Adults of all stripes have advice for the college-bound. Those leaving home and starting their freshman year should listen to it, consider it, reflect on it but ultimately follow their own instincts and passions.

The one certain thing about the future is that it is far from certain. I don’t know what emerging industries will be attracting college graduates four years from now, and neither does anyone else. The next generation will shape its own economy, as the young Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg shaped ours. Those now packing up their clothes, buying textbooks and meeting roommates hold the future in their hands. Every year, when I look out over my 700 eager freshmen on that first day of class, the view gives me optimism about the path ahead.