經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)笑話：人們對激勵(lì)作出反應(yīng)

38. People Respond to Incentives

A wealthy labor economist had an urge to have grandchildren. He had two daughters and two sons and none of them had gratified his desire for【1】 a grandchild. At the annual family gathering on Thanksgiving Day, he chided them gently to bless his old age with their progeny. "But I haven't given up 【2】 hope," he said, "and yesterday I went to the bank and set up 【3】 a one hundred thousand dollar trust fund to be given to the first grandchild that I have. Now we will all bow our heads while I say a prayer of thanks."

When he looked up, he and his wife were the only ones at the table.

人們對激勵(lì)作出反應(yīng)

一位富有的勞動(dòng)經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)家迫切想抱孫子。他有兩個(gè)女兒和兩個(gè)兒子，可是沒有一個(gè)人滿足他的這一愿望。在一年一度的感恩節(jié)家庭聚會上，經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)家輕聲責(zé)備他們沒能讓自己這把老骨頭有后。“不過我仍然沒有放棄希望，”他說，“就在昨天我去了趟銀行，立了個(gè)10萬元的戶頭作為信托基金獎(jiǎng)勵(lì)給我的第一個(gè)孫子?，F(xiàn)在我們都低下頭聽我做感恩祈禱。”

等他抬起頭來時(shí)，發(fā)現(xiàn)桌子旁邊只剩下了他和自己的老婆。

背景知識與點(diǎn)評

·曼昆的《經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)原理》第一章就講述經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)的十大原理，其中第一條就是“人們會對激勵(lì)作出反應(yīng)”。這是很顯然的，我們的古人早就總結(jié)出了這一原理，不過表述方式是“重賞之下必有勇夫”。

·笑話中的老教授早就應(yīng)該知道激勵(lì)的作用，可是為什么遲遲不用呢？因?yàn)樗詾樽约河袃蓚€(gè)兒子和兩個(gè)女兒，他們給自己膝下添個(gè)孫子或外孫自然不在話下，還用得著花錢鼓勵(lì)嗎？能省就省吧，這也符合經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)家的性格。

英語知識鏈接

【1】 desire for：渴望

【2】 give up：放棄；認(rèn)輸

【3】 set up：建立，創(chuàng)立