Economics in One Lesson校译之 A NOTE ON BOOKS

A Note on Books
后记与参考书目

Those who desire to read further in economics should turn next to some work of intermediate length and difficulty. I know of no single volume in print today that completely meets this need, but there are several that together supply it. There is an excellent short book (126 pages) by Faustino Ballvé, Essentials of Economics (Irvington-on-Hudson, N.Y.: Foundation for Economic Education), which briefly summarizes principles and policies. A book that does that at somewhat greater length (327 pages) is Understanding the Dollar Crisis by Percy L. Greaves (Belmont, Mass.: Western Islands, 1973). Bettina Bien Greaves has assembled two volumes of readings on Free Market Economics (Foundation for Economic Education).

想要多读点经济学的人,接下来应该找几本中等篇幅和难度适中的专业著作来看。据我所知,目前还没有哪本书能完全满足这种要求,不过,有几本书搭配起来效果不错。福斯提诺·波夫(Faustino Ballvé)的《经济学精要》(Essentials of Economics, Irvington-on-Hudson, N.Y Foundation for Economic Education; 126页),这本精彩的小册子简要总结了各种经济原则和经济政策。珀西·格里夫斯(Percy L. Greaves)的《探讨美元危机》(Understanding the Dollar Crisis, Belmont, Mass.: Western Islands, 1973;327页),主题类似但篇幅较长。还有,贝蒂纳·格里夫斯(Bettina Bien Greaves)主编的两册的《自由市场经济学》(Free Market Economics, Foundation for Economic Education)。

The reader who aims at a thorough understanding, and feels prepared for it, should next read Human Action by Ludwig von Mises (Chicago: Contemporary Books, 1949, 1966, 907 pages). This book extended the logical unity and precision of economics beyond that of any previous work. A two-volume work written thirteen years after Human Action by a student of Mises is Murray Rothbard’s Man, Economy, and State (Mission, Kan.: Sheed, Andrews and McMeel, 1962, 987 pages). This contains much original and penetrating material; its exposition is admirably lucid; and its arrangement makes it in some respects more suitable for textbook use than Mises’ great work.

想要深入了解经济学的读者,如果已经具备了一定理解能力,接下来应该看米塞斯的《人的行为》(Human Action, Chicago: Contemporary Books, 1949, 1966;907页)。这本书的逻辑单一性和经济学的精确度,超越了以前所有的经济学著作。在《人的行为》出版13年后,米塞斯的学生罗思巴德(Murray N. Rothbard)写了两册的《人、经济与国家》(Man, Economy, and State, Mission, Kan.: Sheed, Andrews and McMeel, 1962;987页)。这本书中有不少新东西,有不少作者透彻的见解;其叙述简单明了;其结构安排在某些方面比米塞斯的巨著更适合作为教科书。

Short books that discuss special economic subjects in a simple way are Planning for Freedom by Ludwig von Mises (South Holland, Ill.: Libertarian Press, 1952), and Capitalism and Freedom by Milton Friedman (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1962). There is an excellent pamphlet by Murray N. Rothbard, What HasGovernment Done to Our Money? (Santa Ana, Calif.: Rampart College, 1964, 1974, 62 pages). On the urgent subject of inflation, a book by the present author has recently been published, The Inflation Crisis, and How to Resolve It (New Rochelle, N.Y.: Arlington House, 1978).

还有些深入浅出探讨特殊经济主题的小册子,包括米塞斯的《规划自由》(Planning for Freedom, South Holland, I11.: Libertarian Press, 1952),弗里德曼的《资本主义与自由》(Capitalism and Freedom, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1962)。罗思巴德的《为什么我们的钱变薄了?》(What Has Government Done to Our Money?, Santa Ana, Calif,: Rampart College, 1964, 1974;62页)很不错。急于了解通货膨胀的读者,可以读本书作者最近出的《通货膨胀危机,及其解决之道》。

Among recent works which discuss current ideologies and developments from a point of view similar to that of this volume are the present author’s The Failure of the “New Economics”: An Analysis of the Keynesian Fallacies (Arlington House, 1959); F. A. Hayek, The Road to Serfdom (1945) and the same author’s monumental Constitution of Liberty (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1960). Ludwig von Mises’ Socialism: An Economic and Sociological Analysis (London: Jonathan Cape, 1936, 1969) is the most thorough and devastating critique of collectivistic doctrines ever written.

与这本书观点类似,从当前的意识形态与发展层面进行探讨的经济学著作,有本书作者的《“新经济学”的失败:分析凯恩斯的谬论》(The Failure of the “New Economics”: An Analysis of the Keynesian Fallacies, Arlington House, 1959);哈耶克的《通向奴役之路》和《自由秩序原理》。米塞斯的《社会主义:经济与社会分析》(Socialism: An Economic and Sociological Analysis, London: Jonathan Cape, 1936, 1969),这本书对集体主义的教条所进行的彻头彻尾的批判是空前的。

The reader should not overlook, of course, Frederic Bastiat’s Economic Sophisms (ca. 1844), and particularly his essay on “What Is Seen and What Is Not Seen.”

读者当然不要错过巴斯夏的《经济诡辩》(Economic Sophisms,1844),尤其是他写的〈看得见的与看不见的〉。

Those who are interested in working through the economic classics might find it most profitable to do this in the reverse of their historical order. Presented in this order, the chief works to be consulted, with the dates of their first editions, are: Philip Wick-steed, The Common Sense of Political Economy, 1911; John Bates Clark, The Distribution of Wealth, 1899; Eugen von BohmBawerk, The Positive Theory of Capital, 1888; Karl Menger, Principles of Economics, 1871; W. Stanley Jevons, The Theory of Political Economy, 1871; John Stuart Mill, Principles of Political Economy, 1848; David Ricardo, Principles of Political Economy and Taxation, 1817; and Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations, 1776.

对经济学经典感兴趣的读者,不妨先读现代的经典,再读时间更久远的经典。按第一版的出版日期,我们倒着列一个书单:威克斯第德的《政治经济学常识》(The Common Sense of Political Economy, 1911);约翰·克拉克(John Bates Clark)的《财富分配》(The Distribution of Wealth, 1899);尤金·庞巴维克(Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk)的《正面资本论》(The Positive Theory of Capital, 1888);卡尔·门格(Karl Menger)的《经济学原理》(Principles of Economics, 1871);斯坦利·杰文斯(W. Stanley Jevons)的《政治经济理论》(The Theory of Political Economy, 1871);穆勒的《政治经济原理》;大卫·李嘉图的《政治经济与财税原理》(Principles of Political Economy and Taxation, 1817);亚当·斯密的《国富论》。

Economics broadens out in a hundred directions. Whole libraries have been written on specialized fields alone, such as money and banking, foreign trade and foreign exchange, taxation and public finance, government control, capitalism and socialism, wages and labor relations, interest and capital, agricultural economics, rent, prices, profits, markets, competition and monopoly, value and utility, statistics, business cycles, wealth and poverty, social insurance, housing, public utilities, mathematical economics, studies of special industries and of economic history. But no one will ever properly understand any of these specialized fields unless he has first of all acquired a firm grasp of basic economic principles and the complex interrelationship of all economic factors and forces. When he has done this by his reading in general economics, he can be trusted to find the right books in his special field of interest.

经济学会往无数个方向发展。仅各专门领域的经济学著作已是汗牛充栋。例如货币与银行、外贸与外汇、税收与公共财政、政府规制、资本主义与社会主义、工资与劳动关系、利息与资本、农业经济学、租金、价格、利润、市场、竞争与垄断、价值与效用、统计经济学、经济周期、财富与贫困问题、社会保险、房地产、公共事业、数理经济学、产业经济学与经济史的研究。但是,没有人能适当掌握这些专门领域,而不对基本的经济原理以及所有经济因素和经济力量之 间复杂的相互关系已有深刻理解。当他能过阅读一般性的经济学内容而有此能力之后,才能被期望在自己感兴趣的特殊领域,找到合适的书籍。

4 thoughts on “Economics in One Lesson校译之 A NOTE ON BOOKS

  1. Hi, Dingdong. I am starting with a new blog, mainly in Spanish, but also with some English and Chinese (traditional writing). Chinese is my wife’s language and she is helping me with some small translations.

    I would like to post a link to your blog. I feel that “Economics in one lesson” is the perfect place for starting to learn about real economics.

    Thanks for so great idea. Let’s spread the truth

    Ho Pin (my Chinese name)

  2. I’m interested in creating a Japanese translation. I’m not a native speaker but, with a little help from the “http://lang-8.com/” community, I think I can come up with something that’s not too laughable, and hopefully gets the point across. (In the mean time, many Japanese will end up reading it, with the impression that they’re “only correcting my grammar”. Sneaky, eh?)

    I spent some time trying to find a Japanese translation. As far as I can tell …there isn’t one. If there is, Google doesn’t seem to know about it.

    If there’s sufficient interest, and it doesn’t turn out to be a total waste of time, I’ll be posting it here:

    http://lang-8.com/member/40569/journals

    Even if there *is* one …I might go ahead and get started, if only to practice my Japanese.

    -mburr

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