市场不是万能的

∷林巍 文／译

原 文

[1] 三十多年前，我们开始改革开放时，突然认识到，市场是个好东西；认为以前之所以没搞好，根本原因就是没有尊重市场调节。现在好了，有了这个法宝，似乎一切便可迎刃而解了。

[2] 的确，沿着这条路，中国的经济发生了天翻地覆的变化，取得了举世瞩目的成就。但是，随之也出现了严重的问题。其根本原因，抛开其他因素，恰恰是我们太相信市场了。

[3] 市场的核心是竞争，是调动个人积极性，是资源合理调配、优化组合，同时也是弱肉强食、铁面无情。市场会刺激生产、经营与创造，但同时也会带来两极分化、畸形结构、甚至是危机动荡。在这个意义上，市场具有多功能性（而并非万能性）。

[4] 事实证明，许多领域是不适宜完全引入市场机制的。例如：公众医疗部门、教育事业、公共交通系统、安居工程、某些科研项目等等。引入了，便破坏了其性质，扭曲了其功能，最后以失败告终。市场的确也会失败。

[5] 所以，改革前的“一切不相信市场”和改革后的“一切相信市场”都是片面的。一个健康的社会，不但需要市场这只“看不见的手”，同时更需要政府“看得见的手”。关键的是在了解客观规律的基础上“该出手时就出手”。

译 文

[1] In the initial stage of reform some thirty years ago,we seemed to have a sudden realization of the benefits of the market, believing it was a recipe to clear up all flaws from a past that did not follow market forces.

[2] Indeed, China’s economic reform has had tremendous achievements from the market economy, and has stunned the world. However, serious problems have also occurred. The fundamental cause is, apart from anything else, precisely that we have put too much trust in the market.

[3] The core of market mechanism is competition,

which motivates individuals to allocate resources rationally,optimize investment and so on, operating ruthlessly according to the law of the jungle. The market can stimulate production,entrepreneurship and innovation, and at the same time polarize society, distort structures or even cause crises. In a sense, the market is indeed multifunctional, if not omnipotent.

[4] It has been proved that market forces are not applicable to every sector in our society, including public health, education, public transportation, public housing, as well as some research projects. The law of the jungle, if imported to these areas, will distort their nature and functions and inevitably result in complete failure. There is indeed such a thing as market failure.

[5] Therefore, either no market at all or everything as market believed before or after the reform is only part of truth. In a healthy society, both the invisible hands of market forces and the visible role of government are needed. The key question is how to let them function appropriately and effectively based on the objective laws.

译 注

在[1]中，“好东西”，这里没有译成a good thing，而是从实际的有益作用出发，用了the benefits。“法宝”，没有直译成talisman, sutras, magic weapon等，而用了recipe。“一切便可迎刃而解”，似乎可译成 everything can be solved easily，但为了更加具体，特别是与市场规律有关，故可译为 believing it was a recipe to clear up all flaws from a past that did not follow market forces.同时，“现在好了”等可不必对应译出，因其意思已包含在该句的叙述中。

在[2]中，“沿着这条路，中国的经济发生了天翻地覆的变化”，其中似可译成...along the path of market economy，但此处用了 ... from the market economy更显直截了当与通顺。而“太相信市场了”，“相信”可不必用believe，因该词含义为to accept as true or real（相信是真的或事实而以接受），而 trust 则意为reliance on something in the future（对某事未来的信赖），故这里用了put too much trust in the market。类似的还有faith，该词主要指con fident belief in the truth, value, or trustworthiness of a person, an idea, or a thing（对真理、价值、人、意见或事物的确实性的坚定不移的信仰），颇有理想和宗教色彩。同时，“抛开其他因素”，实际是指“暂且不考虑其他事情”，故用了apart from anything else， 亦不可完全对译。

在[3]中，“市场的核心是竞争，是调动个人积极性，是资源合理调配、优化组合”，此句是排比句“是……是……是”，而在翻译成英文时，若照搬此句式，便会显得呆板，也不符合原意，因原文的实质是讲“竞争”的性质及由此引发的效果，故需适当变通，不妨为 The core of market mechanism is competition, which motivates individuals to allocate resources rationally, optimize investment and so on，由此进一步诠释了competition；而“弱肉强食、铁面无情”指的是在市场经济下的行为，故增加了according to the law of the jungle，jungle在这里指的是“竞争之地”，英文意为：a place or milieu characterized by intense, often ruthless competition or struggle for survival，如 jungle warfare（丛林战），the corporate jungle（公司竞争）等。“……带来两极分化、畸形结构、甚至是危机动荡”， 其主语自然还是 “市场”，动词是“带来”，但在翻译时可直接用动词polarize，其意为to cause to concentrate about two conflicting or contrasting positions（使集中于两个相互冲突或相对的位置），故此句不妨译为polarize society, distort structures or even cause crises。“在这个意义上，市场具有多功能性（而并非万能性）”，原文中以括号中内容补充说明市场的性质，而在译文中在可将其展开，In a sense, the market is indeed multifunctional, if not omnipotent，以示连贯、通顺、达意。

在[4]中，“许多领域是不适宜完全引入市场机制的”，这里的“市场机制”可以是market mechanism，但更通俗的用法不妨为market forces，而“引入”也未必用import，因后面还有一“引入了”，亦避免重复，故可译为 ... market forces are not applicable to every sector in our society, ... if imported to these areas, will ... “市场的确也会失败”，此处用了market failure这一经济学中的通用术语，该术语主要意指 a concept within economic theory describing when the allocation of goods and services by a free market is not efficient. That is, there exists another conceivable outcome where a market participant may be made better-off without making someone else worse-off.Market failures can be viewed as scenarios where individuals’ pursuit of pure self-interest leads to results that are not efficient—that can be improved upon from the societal point-of-view.（“市场失效”是经济学理论中的一个概念，即指自由市场中商品和服务配置的失效。实际完全有另外一种可能，即市场参与者中一部分人的富有不会导致另一部人的贫穷。市场失败可被视为因个人只顾追求自身利益而导致的一种失效，而从社会角度则可予以弥补）; 而 market force 则指 from an economic point of view the commonality of products is more important than that of persons because market forces,that is to say competition, operate most strongly between products of the same kind（从经济的观点看，产品的共性比人员的共性更重要，因为市场机制，亦即竞争，在同类产品中发挥作用最大）。

在[5]中，“一切不相信市场”和“一切相信市场”可简化为no market at all 和 everything as market；“都是片面的”，似乎可用one-sided, lopsided view, take a one-sided approach to problems等，但这里是相对信任程度而言的，故不妨用part of truth。对于“该出手时就出手”这句中文俗语，可以用 let them play their own roles，但此处考虑到上下文的具体语境，用了to let them function appropriately and effectively，以转化为更为正式的语句，同时将“在了解客观规律的基础上”简译为 based on the objective laws，置于句末。