爱情经济学

原文来源：nytimes.com       译者： litaochina发表时间：2011-09-21

 

AS my fine professor of economics at Columbia, C. Lowell Harriss (who just celebrated his 96th birthday) used to tell us, economics is the study of the allocation of scarce goods and services. What could be scarcer or more precious than love? It is rare, hard to come by and often fragile.

在哥伦比亚大学读书时,我的授业良师，经济学教授C·洛厄尔·哈里斯先生（他刚过完96岁生日）跟我们讲过，经济学是一门研究短缺商品和服务分配问题的学问。有什么能比爱情更弥足珍贵吗？几乎找不到像爱情那样来之不易又极其脆弱的东西了。

My primary life study has been about love. Second comes economics, so here, in the form of a few rules, is a little amalgam of the two fields: the economics of love. (I last wrote about this subject 20 years or so ago, and it’s time to update it.)

我的主修课题是研究爱情，其次才是经济学，正好在一些原则之下，这两个领域可以结合起来，便成了：爱情经济学（这个题目我20多年前就写完了，是时候更新一下了）。

In general, and with rare exceptions, the returns in love situations are roughly proportional to the amount of time and devotion invested. The amount of love you get from an investment in love is correlated, if only roughly, to the amount of yourself you invest in the relationship.

恋爱中的回报向来跟你投入的时间和精力大致呈正比，这几乎是肯定的。你得到的爱跟你付出爱的多少有关，简单来说，取决于你为这段恋情的付出。

If you invest caring, patience and unselfishness, you get those things back. (This assumes, of course, that you are having a relationship with someone who loves you, and not a one-sided love affair with someone who isn’t interested.)

投入了关爱、耐心、无私，你同样会收获这些。（前提是你爱的那个人也爱你，剃头挑子一头热可不行。）

High-quality bonds consistently yield more return than junk, and so it is with high-quality love. As for the returns on bonds, I know that my comment will come as a surprise to people who have been brainwashed into thinking that junk bonds are free money. They aren’t. The data from the maven of bond research, W. Braddock Hickman, shows that junk debt outperforms high quality only in rare situations, because of the default risk.

绩优债券肯定会比垃圾债券带来更多收益，同样，优质爱情也会带来更好的回报。有些人对我关于债券收益的看法颇有微词，他们有一种执拗的想法，认为购买垃圾债券能得到更多意外之财，事实并非如此。债券研究专家W·布拉多克·西克曼收集的数据显示，潜在的高风险使垃圾债券只有在极特殊的情况下优于绩优债券。

In love, the data is even clearer. Stay with high-quality human beings. And once you find that you are in a junk relationship, sell immediately. Junk situations can look appealing and seductive, but junk is junk. Be wary of it unless you control the market.

对于爱情，数据就更明显了。一定要跟高素质的人交往，一旦发现自己维持的是一段垃圾恋情，马上抛手。垃圾恋情看上去很诱人，但垃圾永远都是垃圾。要是没有操控市场的本事，就得时刻警觉不要陷入垃圾恋情之中。

(Or, as I like to tell college students, the absolutely surest way to ruin your life is to have a relationship with someone with many serious problems, and to think that you can change this person.)

（我常跟大学生讲，有人问题很多很严重，要是你觉得能改造他并执意跟他交往，肯定会把你的生活搞乱。）

Research pays off. The most appealing and seductive (that word again) exterior can hide the most danger and chance of loss. For most of us, diversification in love, at least beyond a very small number, is impossible, so it’s necessary to do a lot of research on the choice you make. It is a rare man or woman who can resist the outward and the surface. But exteriors can hide far too much.

研究表明，最诱人（又用到这个词了）的表象下往往潜藏着最深重的危机和最惨痛的损失。大部分人，起码不在少数，是不能同时维持多份恋情的，所以，做出选择之前，一定要斟酌再三。一个人总有撕下伪装的那一天，但在此之前，他可以蒙蔽你很长时间。

In every long-term romantic situation, returns are greater when there is a monopoly. If you have to share your love with others, if you have to compete even after a brief while with others, forget the whole thing. You want to have monopoly bonds with your long-term lover. At least most situations work out better this way. ( I am too old to consider short-term romantic events. Those were my life when Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon were in the White House.)  

每一份能长期维持的恋情，用情专一会得到更好的回报。要是非得跟别人分享一个人，或者非得跟别人争一个人，我劝你趁早放手吧！谁都想握着一张“独家债券”跟自己的情人长相厮守，往往这样能带来比较好的结局。（我垂垂老矣，不再觊觎浮光掠影式的爱情，那是我在林登·约翰逊和理查德·尼克松当政期间【当时作者20郎当岁，还很年轻（译者注）】才消受了的方式。）

The returns on your investment should at least equal the cost of the investment. If you are getting less back than you put in over a considerable period of time, back off.

最起码投入和收益要平衡，要是长期入不敷出，还是那句话，趁早放手。

Long-term investment pays off. The impatient day player will fare poorly without inside information or market-controlling power. He or she will have a few good days but years of agony in the world of love.

 长线投资收益好。那些耐不住性子的短投散户由于得不到内部消息，也没有操控市场的能力，往往陷入困境。以同种方式对待爱情的人，可能会有短暂的欢愉，但难求岁月静好。

To coin a phrase: Fall in love in haste, repent at leisure.

套用一句话：盲目坠爱河，来日苦必多。

Realistic expectations are everything. If you have unrealistic expectations, they will rarely be met. If you think that you can go from nowhere to having someone wonderful in love with you, you are probably wrong.

想法要现实，这是一切行动的前提。想法不切实际，愿望难以成真。你要是觉得林妹妹会爱上焦大，很可能是想错了。

You need expectations that match reality before you can make some progress. There may be exceptions, but they are rare.

 为提升自己而作出努力之前，你可以有所期待，但要切合自己的实际能力。不排除有朝为布衣暮封侯的人，但这种人太少了。

When you have a winner, stick with your winner. Whether in love or in the stock market, winners are to be prized.

 要是手里握有一张收益债券，可得把它攥好了！不管是爱情还是证券交易，收益债券都是最有价值的。

Have a dog or many dogs or cats in your life. These are your anchors to windward and your unfailing source of love.

别忘了养点猫猫狗狗，也算是未雨绸缪，你对它们付出的爱总会得到回报，永远不会失望。

Ben Franklin summed it up well. In times of stress, the three best things to have are an old dog, an old wife and ready money. How right he was.

本·富兰克林总结得好，不堪重负的时候，有三样东西最好:一条老狗，一个老伴儿还有一打票子。说得太对了！

THERE is more that could be said about the economics of love, but these thoughts may divert you while you are thinking about your future.

蕴含在爱情中的经济学原理还有很多，这些原理可能会让你在规划未来的时候有诸多考虑。

And let me close with another thought. I am far from glib about the economy. It has a lot of pitfalls facing it. As workers and investors, we know that many dangers lurk in our paths.

我用另一种观点作结。我对经济学有过深入的研究，也碰到过不少难题。作为经济学者和投资人，我们深谙经济领域暗彀密布险象环生。

But so far, these things have always worked themselves out and this one will, too. In the meantime, they say that falling in love is wonderful, and that the best is falling in love with what you have.

那些经济学难题都有它自身的化解之道，爱情也一样。有人说恋爱的感觉妙不可言，但最好还是比着脚买鞋。