经济学人:过剩学问:产能过剩和产能不足(1)

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　　Six Big Ideas: Overcapacity and undercapacity 六大经济学理论：产能过剩和产能不足

　　Glutology 过剩的学问

　　The third brief in our series on big economice ideas looks at Say's law 我们有关重大经济思想系列的第三篇文章考察的是萨伊定律。

　　In 1804 Jean-Baptiste Say enrolled¹ in the National Conservatory² of Arts and Crafts in Paris to learn the principles of spinning cotton. 1804年，让·巴蒂斯特·萨伊在巴黎国民工艺美院报名入学，学习纺织棉花的原理。

　　The new student was 37 years old, points out his biographer, Evert Schoorl,  他的传记作者艾佛特·斯库尔 （Evert Schoorl）指出，这名新学生当时已经37岁，

　　with a pregnant wife, four children and a successful career in politics and letters trailing behind him. 有一位已经怀孕的妻子、4个孩子以及在政界和文坛的功成名就。

　　To resume his studies, he had turned down two lucrative³ offers from France's most powerful man, Napoleon Bonaparte. 为了重新开始学习，他已经拒绝了来自当时法国最有权势的人——拿破仑·波拿巴的两次厚邀。

　　The ruler would have paid him handsomely to write in support of his policies. 这位统治者本来要重金聘请他，让他撰写支持他的政策的文章。

　　But rather than “deliver orations⁴ in favour of the usurper”, Say decided⁵ instead to build a cotton mill, spinning yarn⁶ not policy. 但是，萨伊不但没有“发表美化这位篡位者的文章”，反而决定建造一座棉纺厂，纺纱织布，而不是制定政策。

　　Napoleon was right to value (and fear) Say's pen. 拿破仑重视（并害怕）萨伊的这支笔是对的。

　　As a pamphleteer, editor, scholar and adviser⁷, he was a passionate⁸ advocate for free speech, trade and markets. 作为一名小册子作者、编辑、学者和顾问，他是一位自由言论、自由贸易和自由市场的热情支持者。

　　He had imbibed⁹ liberal principles from his heavily annotated¹⁰ copy of Adam Smith's "The Wealth Of Nations” and bolstered¹¹ his patriotic¹² credentials¹³ in battle against Prussian invaders¹⁴.  他从他那本满是注释的亚当·斯密的《国富论》的书中汲取了自由原则，并在抗击普鲁士入侵者的战斗巩固了他的爱国者声誉

　　(During breaks in the fighting, he discussed literature and political economy with other learned volunteers “almost within cannonballs' reach”. ) （在战斗间隙，他曾与其他几位博学的自愿者“几乎是在炮弹射程之内”，讨论文学和政治经济学。）

　　His greatest work was “A Treatise¹⁵ on Political Economy”, a graceful¹⁶ exposition (and extension) of Smith's economic ideas. 他最伟大的作品是《政治经济学概论》（A Treatise on Political Economy），这是一部对亚当·斯密的经济学思想做出了优雅的阐释(和扩充)的著作。

　　In Say's time, as nowadays, the world economy combined strong technological¹⁷ progress with fitful demand, spurts¹⁸ of innovation with bouts¹⁹ of austerity. 在萨伊那个时代，如同现在一样，世界经济集强大的技术进步与断断续续的需求、创新的迸发与紧缩的发作于一身。

　　In France output of yarn grew by 125% from 1806 to 1808, when Say was starting his factory. 就在萨伊创办自己的工厂时，法国的纱线产出在1806年到1808年间增长了125%。

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