Production and Growth

曼昆 - 经济学原理 25

Summary of Chapter 25 - Production and Growth

关键词：

productivity: 生产力
physical capital: 实物资本
human capital: 人力资本
natural resources: 自然资源
technological knowledge: 技术知识

Because of differences in growth rates, the ranking of countries by income changes substantially over time. The world’s richest countries have on guarantee they will stay the richest and that the world’s poorest countries are not doomed forever to remain in poverty.

The explanation of the large variation in living standard around the world can be summarized in a single word - productivity. Productivity is the quantity of goods and services produced from each unit of labor input.

Determinants of productivity:

• Physical capital per worker. Physical capital is the stock of equipment and structures that are used to produce goods and services. An important feature of capital is that it is a produced factor of production. That is, capital is an input into the production process that in the past was an output from the production process.
• Human capital per worker. Human capital is the knowledge and skills that workers acquire through education, training and experience. Like physical capital, human capital is a produced factor of production. Producing human capital requires inputs in the form of teachers, libraries and student time.
• Natural resources per worker. Natural resources are the inputs into the production of goods and services that are provided by nature, such as land, rivers and mineral deposits. Although natural resources can be important, they are not necessary for an economy to be highly productive in producing goods and services.
• Technological knowledge. Technological knowledge is society’s understanding of the best ways to produce goods and services.

Government policies can try to influence the economy’s growth rate in many ways: by encouraging saving and investment, encouraging investment from abroad, fostering education, promoting good health, maintaining property rights and political stability, allowing free trade, promoting the research and development of new technologies, and controlling population growth.

二手烟里到底有什么？

今天在Engadget中国版看到一个帖子，觉得很有必要和大家一起分享一下，这也是为了大家的健康好。看看这个网站（Smoke is poisonous）里都发现二手烟里有哪些东东：

1：carbon monoxide一氧化碳：也就是我们通常所说的煤气的主要成分，这个危害我就不用说了吧。

2：benzyne脱氢苯：用于制造橡胶，洗涤剂，及固态汽油弹，长期吸入能够可导致生殖能力下降（不分男女），这还不是最糟糕的，严重的可导致白血病和皮肤癌。

3：arsenic砷：也是大家知道比较多的有毒物质。20世纪中叶被用于喷洒在果树上的农药，当人们知道它能够导致脑癌之后就停止使用了。

4：Toluene甲苯：用于制造橡胶和炸药，人类长期接触可导致智力下降。

5：lead（Pb）铅： 这个大家也应该知道，可能被某些制造商非法用在一些亮丽的儿童玩具上，会严重损害成年人及儿童的肾脏，大脑中枢神经系统和红血细胞。

6：butane丁烷：吸入这种汽油重要组成部分可能会导致嗜睡，麻醉，兴奋，窒息和心律失常，也是破坏臭氧层的元凶。

7：ethyl carbomate尿烷：被用于制药，但是产时间按服用会导致呕吐和肠胃出血。

8：acetone 丙酮：塑料纤维及毒品的主要成分，主要用于洗甲水（去除指甲油一种化妆品）和稀释剂，会对鼻子喉咙和肺部产生强烈刺激，亦会对肝肾等内脏造成损害。

9：hydrogen cyanide氰化氢：二次世纪大战中种族大屠杀中所用得毒气的主要成分（比如奥斯维辛集中营用的就是这个），现在用于消灭老鼠，吸入过量会导致头晕头痛及恶心。

10：formaldehyde甲醛：防腐剂主要成分，致癌，对人体有害，也用于消毒剂和肥料等其它工业成分。

Measuring the Cost of Living

曼昆 - 经济学原理24

Summary of Chapter 24 - Measuring the Cost of Living

关键词：

consumer price index (CPI): 消费者物价指数
inflation rate: 通货膨胀率
producer price index (PPI): 生产物价指数
nominal interest rate: 名义利率
real interest rate: 实际利率

The consumer price index (CPI) is a measure of overall cost of the goods and services bought by a typical consumer. When the CPI rises, the typical family has to spend more money to maintain the same standard of living. The inflation rate is the percentage change in the price index from the preceding period. When the inflation rate rises, the economy’s overall price level is rising. The producer price index (PPI) measures the cost of a basket of goods and services bought by firms rather than consumers. Because firms eventually pass on their costs to consumers in the form of higher consumer price, changes in the PPI are often thought to be useful in predicting changes in the CPI.

The CPI is not a perfect measure of  the cost of living. Three problems with the index are widely acknowledged but difficult to solve: substitution bias, introduction of new goods, and unmeasured quality change.

Price indexs are used to correct for the effects of inflation when comparing dollar figures from different times. When some dollar amount is automatically corrected for inflation by law or contract, the amount is said to be indexed for inflation. The nominal interest rate is the interest rate as usually reported without a correction for the effects of inflation. The real interest rate is the interest rate corrected for the effects of inflation.

新加坡–马尔代夫蜜月之旅

2008年12月2日开始了我们的新加坡–马尔代夫蜜月之旅。2号起了一大早，8点赶到上海浦东国际机场搭乘飞往新加坡的新航（Singapore Air）客机。大约飞行了5个多小时，4500余公里的旅程，飞机缓缓降落在新加坡樟宜机场（Changi Airport）。第一次踏上别国的土地，心中感到一阵兴奋。

新加坡樟宜国际机场（Changi Airport），无愧于世界上最大最好的机场之一。它由3个候机厅（Terminal）组成，每个候机厅之间都是由轻轨电车（Sky Train）连接起来的，特别是Terminal 2里面的商场琳琅满目，免税店也是号称亚洲最便宜的，特别是各种名牌的化妆品、衣服、手提包之类的，老婆进了免税店就开始手舞足蹈起来，直奔化妆品店，开始大肆采购。我心中那个汗啊，女人买起化妆品来那是真疯狂，两个小时功夫，俺们的旅行箱里面装了半箱的化妆品。

办完入境手续，一出机场口就搭上了地铁开始游览这个弹丸岛国，面积也就我们苏州常熟那么大。直接来到了新加坡赫赫有名的”榴莲壳子”–国家剧院（National Theater）。因为国家剧院顶很像榴莲外壳，故得名于此。在国家剧院旁能看到对面商业区的高楼和F1新加坡公路赛的赛道，耳边仿佛回响起了F1赛车雷鸣般的马达声！在国家剧院周围还有新加坡市政厅旧址，纯粹的欧洲风格，气势磅礴。在市政厅对面街道还有纯白色的教堂建筑群，高高的尖顶直冲云霄，还看到一对拍婚纱照的小夫妻，甜蜜恩爱的摆着各种动作。步行半个小时，我们来到了新加坡国家博物馆（National Museum），主要是介绍新加坡的历史传统及当代新加坡的发展历史。（点击进入相册）

由于在新加坡逗留的时间不长，所以游览了几个景点之后，我们就开始返回新加坡机场，准备飞往我们的蜜月圣地—-马尔代夫。 Read more

聆听郎咸平

今天（2008年12月13日）有幸在独墅湖高教区现场聆听到了朗咸平的演讲，演讲的主题是《国际金融海啸对中国企业的影响》，这是我离开南京大学后听到的最好的演讲。

我坐在二楼，远远的看见一头花白头发走向演讲台，我想，那下面就盖着一团充满智慧和正直理念的思想，今天我是来感受和欣赏它的。朗教授的开题很平淡，开门见山谈起国际金融风暴的来由，然后剖解国际金融风暴影响中国企业的来龙去脉，分析中国经济和企业面临的问题，最后关切的给中国的企业提出了真切的建议。短短三个小时，转眼逝去，我停止许久的思考再次被驱动。其实，面对国际国内这样的经济形势，郎咸平并不乐观，就像他给企业的一个建议一样，“束手无策”，但是，也同样像他所说的一样，最重要的是要充分认识和面对这一次金融海啸的威力。朗教授说他已没有曾经那种“愤青”劲，“再也不忧国忧民，只关心自己”，但我却从他的声音后面听到一种无奈一丝无力。我想，或许是因为，在中国，坦诚正直会让人老的快一些。

下面是我在朗教授演讲时做的摘要笔记，和大家分享一下： Read more