One of the most renowned parables in economics is that of the Capitol Hill babysitting co-operative.
经济学中最著名的案例之一是“国会山照看婴儿合作社(Capitol Hill babysitting co-operative)的故事。
It became famous because of Paul Krugman, a winner of the Nobel memorial prize in economics and a pugnacious columnist for The New York Times.
这个故事之所以出名是因为诺贝尔(Nobel)经济学奖得主、好斗的《纽约时报》(The New York Times)专栏作家保罗·克鲁格曼(Paul Krugman)。
Long, long ago (the 1970s) in a town far, far away (Washington, DC) there was a babysitting co-op with a problem. The 150 or so families in the co-op, mostly congressional staffers, shared babysitting duties and kept track of who was owed babysitting, and who was owing, with a system of “scrip - tokens good for a half-hour's sitting.
很久很久以前(上世纪70年代),在一个遥远的地方(华盛顿特区),有一家照看婴儿合作社出了问题。合作社由大约150户人家组成,他们多数为国会工作人员,成员之间互相帮忙照看婴儿。他们采用“保姆券(一种票证,每张代表半小时的保姆服务),用以表示谁家帮别人照管了孩子,谁家的孩子请人照管了。
Thanks to an administrative misstep, the co-op ended up short of tokens. Most families wanted more, as a buffer in case they had a run of social engagements, and so most families wanted to stay in and sit for others. Of course, if everyone wants to babysit, nobody goes out, and that means nobody babysits either. The co-op suffered a demand-led depression: there was no shortage of people willing to supply babysitting services, but because of a failure of monetary policy, this potential supply was not called into play. As a hint of how serious things became, the co-op introduced a rule compelling families to go out at least twice a year; I am no party animal but that seems a low hurdle.
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