政府的成本
课文学习台
The Cost of Government
区分观点、依据、例子与限制，用自己的话准确重建论述。
课文精读第1 / 3段
本课原文与译文
展开完整文本 · 便于查阅与检索
第1段
If a nation is essentially disunited, it is left to the government to hold it together. This increases the expense of government, and reduces correspondingly the amount of economic resources that could be used for developing the country.And it should not be forgotten how small those resources are in a poor and backward country. Where the cost of government is high, resources for development are correspondingly low.
如果一个国家实际上处于分裂状态，政府便需要使之统一。 这样一来势必增加政府开支，该笔开支本可以用于国家的发展。 需要理解的是，在一个贫穷落后的国家里，经济资源是很有限的。 政府的行政成本与用于发展国家的经济资源，此消彼长。
第2段
This may be illustrated by comparing the position of a nation with that of a private business enterprise. An enterprise has to incur certain costs and expenses in order to stay in business. For our purposes, we are concerned only with one kind of cost—the cost of managing and administering the business. Such administrative overheads in a business are analogous to the cost of government in a nation. The administrative overheads of a business are low to the extent that everyone working in the business can be trusted to behave in a way that best promotes the interests of the firm. If they can each be trusted to take such responsibilities, and to exercise such initiative as falls within their sphere, then administrative overheads will be low. It will be low because it will be necessary to have only one man looking after each job, without having another man to check upon what he is doing, keep him in line, and report on him to someone else. But if no one can be trusted to act in a loyal and responsible manner towards his job, then the business will require armies of administrators, checkers, and foremen, and administrative overheads will rise correspondingly. As administrative overheads rise, so the earnings of the business after meeting the expense of administration, will fall; and the business will have less money to distribute as dividends or invest directly in its future progress and development.
把国家的状况同私人企业的状况进行类比，就可以看清这个问题。一个企业为了持续经营，一定的成本和支出不可或缺。就我们的目的而言，只有一种成本——企业行政管理成本需要考虑。一家企业的经常费用可与一个国家的政府管理成本类比。如果每位员工都值得信赖，并各展其能，提高利润，则企业的经常费用就会相应降低。 如果每位员工都认真负责，在各自的工作范围内发挥主动性，行政管理的经常费用也会降低。经常费用降低的原因在于每项工作只需要一位人手，而不用冗员复查工作，督促遵章守纪，或汇报员工的工作情况。但是，如果员工无法对工作尽忠守职，那么企业就会需要大量的行政、质检和领班人员，经常费用就会相应地增加。经常费用增加了，那么在扣除管理成本后，企业的利润就降低了。 本可以用于派息或者用于直接投资于未来发展的资金，也都相应地减少了。
第3段
It is precisely the same with a nation. To the extent that the people can be relied upon to behave in a loyal and responsible manner, the government does not require armies of police and civil servants to keep them in order. But if a nation is disunited, the government cannot be sure that the actions of the people will be in the interests of the nation; and it will have to watch, check, and control the people accordingly. A disunited nation therefore has to incur unduly high costs of government.
国家也是这种情况。只要人民的行为值得信赖，能够忠诚而负责地行事，那么政府就不需要雇佣大批的警察和公务员去确保人民遵纪守法了。但是，如果一个国家处于分裂状态，政府不能确保人民的举止符合国家利益，那么政府就必须要监督、检查和控制人民。因此，一个处于分裂状态的国家，需要承受过高的行政管理成本。
学完这一课
选一个可以讨论的判断，说明依据，再加上一句限制或不同情况。
译文与解析据吴应时整理资料及本站首轮审校稿；词伙与练习提示为本站学习设计。原PDF第153—157页，2022年2月第2版。