Having Hearts in His Eyes眼裏有心1. Cody started life weighing 24 ounces.
2. Due to extreme prematurity, our son had eye surgery to prevent blindness. As a result of the surgery, he lost peripheral vision in his right eye. And his near sightedness would mean glasses and close monitoring by an ophthalmologist for the rest of his life.
3. Such a small price to pay, in our opinion, compared to the alternative.
4. Cody wore glasses with great pride, making it abundantly clear to his little brothers that Mommy and Daddy also wore glasses, and wasn’t it a shame that they didn’t have any themselves. This usually prompted a round of begging from his siblings that it was only fair they get glasses, too.
5. Then kindergarten happened.
6. One day, a couple of kids at recess derailed Cody’s bright outlook on having glasses in his possession. One boy said, your glasses look stupid, Cody. Another kid yanked them off his face and bent them.
7. Cody was a timid, small child. Seeing tears well up in his eyes, as he recounted the event, wrung our hearts dry.
8. Just recently though, something changed his outlook.
9. It was the morning of Valentine’s Day. I shut off the alarm and groped around in the dark until I found my glasses. I donned them and without turning on the light, blindly made my way to the bathroom. I flipped the bathroom switch, and there I discovered why it was extra dark in my bedroom.
10. My husband, Stephen, had placed two red heart stickers on my glasses. And plastered all over the mismatched antique mirrors above our bathroom basins were the same stickers.
11. “VALENTINE,” my husband had scrawled on one mirror, “I LOVE YOU THIS MUCH!”
12. In one mirror was drawn a stick arm with a hand pointing west. And in the other mirror was the same thing pointing east. I was chuckling under my breath, so as not to wake the rest of the household, while staring at my reflection.
13. I penned my response in the mirror, “Thanks to you, sweetie, I’ve got hearts in my eyes!”
14. While dressing Cody for school, he whispered, “Mom?”
15. “Yes, big boy?” I whispered back.
16. “You got hearts on your glasses.”
17. “Yep, I sure do.”
18. “You’re funny, Mom.” He said, his eyes sparkling. We both climbed into the cab of the pickup truck, where other hearts ambushed us. Stuck to the steering wheel was a heart.
Another one was on the rearview mirror, on my truck key, on the stick shift, and on my wallet. All compliments of my heart happy husband.
19. I peeled the hearts from my glasses and handed them to Cody. He stuck them carefully on his own glasses and smiled the whole way to school.
20. I parked in front of his school.
21. “Get your book bag, sweetie.” I said.
22. “Mom, can I wear my hearts to class?”
23. I debated it for a moment. Pulling a “stunt” like this could go either way. But the pleading in his eyes sealed it for me. How could I deny him what may turn out to be a fun opportunity?
24. “I don’t see why not, big boy.”
25. I placed two hearts on my own glasses, and together we entered his school, hand in hand,parting the crowd in the hallway on our way to his classroom.
26. “Ha! Look at Cody Oliver! He’s got hearts on his glasses!” One observer called out.
27. “Oh, look at Cody! How cute!” Shouted another, pointing and giggling.
28. Cody smiled shyly, gripping my hand for dear life.
29. When we arrived at the doorway, classmates gathered around my little guy, while I saw him trying to shake off the biggest grin I’d ever seen on his face.
30. “That’s neat! Hearts on your glasses!”
31. “Cody, can I try them on?”
32. One little girl tugged at my sleeve. “Mrs. Oliver?”
33. “Yes?”
34. “I wish I had glasses.”
35. I knew then without a doubt that Cody’s outlook was back on track.
36. Just by having hearts in his eyes.
1. 科迪出生時僅僅24 盎司。
2. 因為是極度早產，我們的兒子做了眼部手術以防止失明。手術結果是，他失去了右眼的周邊視覺。右眼近視就意味著他終身都需要戴眼鏡，終身都需要有眼科專家的密切監察。
3. 相對於失明，我們認為這點代價實在是微不足道。
4. 科迪極為驕傲地戴上了眼鏡，那種驕傲勁讓他的弟弟們一眼就能看出：爸爸、媽媽都戴眼鏡，而他們卻不戴，簡直有點不像話。於是弟弟們時常輪番懇求也要戴眼鏡，否則不公平嘛。
5. 轉眼該上幼兒園了。
6. 有一天課間休息時，兩個小男孩徹底摧毀了科迪對戴眼鏡所抱有的自豪感。一個男孩說，科迪，你的眼鏡看上去好蠢。而另一個竟猛地把科迪的眼鏡摘下，把它弄彎。
7. 科迪個頭小，生性靦腆。他回家跟我們說起這件事時，眼淚直在眼睛裏打轉轉，我們的心裏好難受。
8. 但就在最近，有件事改變了他對眼鏡的看法。
9. 那是情人節的早晨。鬧鍾一響，我趕緊按住，然後在黑暗中摸索著找到我的眼鏡。
我戴上眼鏡，沒有開燈，摸黑走進衛生間。輕輕按下衛生間的電燈開關，我才明白過來為什麽臥室是那樣出奇地黑暗。
10. 我先生斯蒂芬，在我的眼鏡片上分別貼了兩個紅色心形貼畫。而在我們衛生間盥洗池上方那些大小不一的古董鏡子上也都貼滿了紅心。
11. “親愛的，我這麽地愛你！”我先生在一麵鏡子上潦草地寫道。
12. 在一麵鏡子上畫有一隻伸直的胳膊，手指向西邊。而另一麵鏡子上也畫有一隻伸直的胳膊，手指向東邊。瞅著鏡中的自己，我使勁忍住不笑出聲來，怕弄醒丈夫和孩子。
13. 我也在鏡子上寫下了我的回複：“謝謝你，親愛的。我的眼裏滿是心！”
14. 在給科迪穿衣服準備去學校時，他低聲說：“媽媽？”
15. “嗯，我的大男孩？”我低聲應和。
16. “你眼鏡上有紅心。”
17. “沒錯，有啊。”
18. “你真有意思，媽媽。”他說了句，眼裏放著光芒。我們倆鑽進小貨車的駕駛室裏，又有好多心將我們包圍。方向盤上貼有紅心，後視鏡上有一個，鑰匙上有一個，換檔杆上有一個，我的皮夾上還有一個。我那不知憂愁為何物的老公真是大獻殷勤。
19. 我把那兩顆心從我的眼鏡上揭下，遞給科迪。他小心翼翼地把它們貼到自己的眼鏡片上，去學校的一路上他都是笑眯眯的。
20. 我在校門口停下來。
21. “拿上你的書包，寶貝。”我說。
22. “媽媽，我能戴著紅心上學嗎？”
23. 我心裏鬥爭了一會兒。如此當眾“表演”可能一鳴驚人，也可能一敗塗地。但是科迪眼裏流露出的懇求讓我不再猶豫。我怎能剝奪有可能讓他開心的一個大好機會呢？
24. “我看沒有什麽不可以的，小夥子。”
25. 我又把兩個紅心貼在我自己的鏡片上，然後我們一起走進學校，手拉著手，穿過走廊中的人群，朝他的教室走去。
26. “哈！快看科迪·奧利弗。他眼鏡上有紅心！”一個人看見了，嚷了起來。
27. “啊，看科迪！多酷呀！”另一個發現者也嚷著，指著我們咯咯地笑。
28. 科迪靦腆地微笑著，緊緊地抓住我的手。
29. 當我們來到教室門口時，同學們圍住科迪，而我看到他在努力克製他的笑容，那是我在他臉上看見過的最開心的笑容。
30. “真有意思！眼鏡上有心！”
31. “科迪，讓我戴一下好嗎？”
32. 一個小姑娘扯了扯我的衣袖。“您是奧利弗太太？”
33. “是啊。你有什麽事？”
34. “我要是戴眼鏡就好了。”
35. 就在那時，我一點也不再懷疑，科迪又重新拾回了他的自信。
36. 很簡單，就是讓眼裏有心。
Norah Jones: FromWaitress to Superstar瓊斯：從侍者到歌壇巨星
1. A young woman sits down at the piano. Her long flowing brown hair frames a friendly face. And then she begins to sing. Her unexpectedly mature voice captivated everyone in the room. This is Norah Jones, award-winning singer and songwriter.
2. Norah Jones was born on March30, 1979, in New York City. She is the daughter of the legendary Ravi Shankar, a very famous guitar player, but Norah was brought up entirely by her mother Sue. She saw her father from time to time through the years, and met her little sister when she was 18. At 4 years old, she and her mother moved to the Dallas suburb, Texas. Her earliest musical influence came from her mother’s extensive LP collection. She began singing in church choirs at age five, commenced piano lessons two years later, and briefly played alto saxophone in junior high.
3. FromTexas to the Big Apple
4. For two years following her graduation from high school, she studied at the University of North Texas, majoring in jazz piano. Before her third year, she decided to take a trip to New York City. The trip started out as simply a summer stay, but Jones soon knew that she would not be returning home for quite some time.
5. Engrossed in the music scene, Jones gravitated toward local musicians and songwriters who urged her, after seeing her sing, to jump-start her own career. Between waitressing jobs, Jones soon started a band in which she sung lead vocals and, of course, played piano. In October 2000, the band ambitiously brought a demo to EMI Blue Note Records, whose roster boasts a host of blues, jazz, folk, and country musicians.
6. Struck a Blue Note
7. At a meeting with Blue Note president Bruce in January 2001, Jones played her three-song tape, hoping to earn a break. Bruce was so impressed with this young girl’s talents that he signed her on the spot. After little more than a year of work, Norah Jones released her debut album, Come Away With Me. Norah Jones has already sold 2.6million copies of the album, which is 10 times more than any album in Blue Note history. Despite the lack of publicity, her album is inching its way up the music charts while the debut single Don’t Know Why is climbing up the Adult Top 40 chart.
8. The sultry-voiced neo-jazz singer already enjoyed a stunning sweep at the Grammy Awards in 2003, where she picked up five trophies in the major categories (Album of the Year, Record of the Year for Don’t Know Why, Best New Artist, Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for Don’t Know Why, and Best Pop Vocal Album). It’s clear that this is only the beginning for Miss Jones.
9. The future is looking good for Norah Jones. After keeping her fans waiting for two years,Norah released her second album, Feels Like Home, in February. It already looks like it’ll be as successful as her first. And this time around, everyone in the music industry is taking her seriously.
1. 一個年輕的女子坐在一架鋼琴前，飄逸的棕色長發襯托出一張親切的臉龐。接著她開始唱歌，她那出人意料的成熟嗓音令在場的每一個人為之著迷。她，就是諾拉.
瓊斯——一位獲獎歌手，同時也是一個詞曲作家。
2. 1979 年3 月30 日，諾拉.瓊斯出生在美國紐約，她是傳奇人物、著名吉他手拉維.
仙卡的女兒，但她本人則完全是由其母親蘇撫養長大的。那些年中，她偶爾才能看到她的父親，直到18 歲，她才見到她的妹妹。4 歲時，她隨母親搬到了德克薩斯州達拉斯市的郊區。她在音樂上受到的最早影響來自於她母親所收藏的大量唱片。
諾拉.瓊斯五歲開始在教堂唱詩班唱歌，兩年後開始學習鋼琴，初中時候一度演奏過低音薩克斯管。
3. 從德州到紐約
4. 高中畢業後的兩年裏，她就讀於北德克薩斯州大學，主修爵士鋼琴。上三年級之前，她決定去紐約旅行一趟。這次旅行原本隻是暑期出遊，但很快瓊斯就意識到自己不會馬上回去了。
5. 癡迷音樂的瓊斯深為當地的音樂人和詞曲作家所吸引，而他們在看了她的歌唱表演後也都催她趕快開辟自己的事業天地。瓊斯於是一邊當女招待，一邊拉起一支樂隊，自己擔任主唱，當然還兼鋼琴演奏。2000 年10 月，這支樂隊雄心勃勃地送了一盤錄音樣帶給旗下擁有眾多布魯斯樂、爵士樂、民間音樂及鄉村音樂樂手的EMI 藍音符唱片公司。
6. 簽約藍音符
7. 2001 年1 月，瓊斯見到了藍音符唱片公司的老板布魯斯，她放了一盤磁帶，裏麵有她唱的三首歌，希望藉此有所突破。小姑娘的才華打動得布魯斯當場與她簽了約。
隻經過一年多一點的準備工作，諾拉.瓊斯就推出了她的首張專輯《遠走高飛》。該專輯已賣出260 萬張，這個數字比藍音符曆史上任何一張專輯的銷售量都要高出十倍。盡管缺乏宣傳，這個專輯仍在流行音樂排行榜上節節攀升，而其單曲《不知何故》也打入了“40 大成人單曲排行榜”。
8. 在2003 年的格萊美頒獎典禮上，這位聲音迷人的新爵士樂歌手氣勢奪人，一舉拿下五項主要項目的大獎（年度最佳專輯獎，單曲《不知何故》獲年度最佳唱片獎，最佳新人獎，單曲《不知何故》還獲得最佳流行女歌手獎，最佳流行聲樂專輯）。
而這一切對瓊斯來說顯然不過隻是個開始。
9. 諾拉.瓊斯前景光明。讓歌迷苦等了兩年之後，諾拉.瓊斯2 月又推出了她的第二張專輯《宛如回家》。看樣子它和第一張專輯一樣成功，但這一次，音樂界再不會有人對她等閑視之。
If IWere Obama假如我是奧巴馬
1. I’m mystified by all the hand-wringing about what a terrible time it is to be a new U.S.
president.
2. Think of the presidents who have been judged by history to be truly great—Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Roosevelt, George Washington—and they’ve all served in times of crisis. But imagine what it would be like to be president when the crisis first unfolds,such as Herbert Hoover or now George Bush.
3. After all, the electorate wouldn’t be clamoring for change if everything were great, if easy credit remained there for the asking, stocks were hitting new all-time highs and speculators were still flipping Las Vegas condos. Crisis provides the political cover for undertakings that would otherwise be unthinkable.
4. Among other boons, for the time being we can forget about the deficit, because one thing we know from the Great Depression and Keynesian economics is that in crises like this the government has to get out there and spend. World War II produced the biggest deficits as a percentage of gross domestic product in U.S. history—and an end to the Depression. There will be time to balance the budget later.
5. With that in mind, here are my prescriptions for the economic crisis, were I stepping into the White House.
6. Shoring up the banking and financial system must take first priority. Confidence, which eroded steadily after the demise of Bear Stearns, must be restored. We learned from the disaster at AIG that you can’t build a moat around the big banks and call it a day.
7. The non-bank participants in the global financial system are just as important, since the chain is only as strong as its weakest link. This means providing capital and liquidity to insurance companies and industrial finance arms like GMAC and GE Capital in return for preferred stock and ownership stakes where appropriate. These should be good investments, since so much of the crisis is psychological, and values will rebound when confidence is restored.
8. The U.S. needs a comprehensive policy for faltering industrial concerns, probably starting with the auto industry.
9. This can’t be another case-by-case, ad hoc approach that arbitrarily favors some companies deemed too big to fail while consigning others to bankruptcy court. I favor the Warren Buffett approach: preferred shares that pay interest and warrants to acquire an equity stake at an attractive price. In fact, I might even ask Mr. Buffett to step up to this task. This can’t be a bailout of private-equity firms or existing shareholders.
Someone in the Treasury will have to start thinking like a distressed-asset manager,since he or she will be managing the taxpayers’ money to earn a profit and will have to make tough-minded decisions about which investments are likely to pay off and which aren’t.
10. Will this be branded “socialism”? Not if the U.S. consistently manages its stakes as though it had a fiduciary duty to taxpayers, as opposed to management, labor, and other interests. The U.S. should be as tough on these companies as any private-equity firm, do what it takes to turn them around for the long term, and then get out, hopefully at a profit.
11. Another lesson from the Depression is that spending on infrastructure helps, and can also be an excellent long-term investment. China just unveiled a $586 billion program that includes spending for airports, rail lines and highways, housing and other programs.
These should raise quality of life, enhance productivity, and provide an economic boost.
There’s no shortage of similar needs in the U.S.
12. If I’d just been elected on a promise to reduce dependence on foreign oil, I’d pour money into public transportation, including links between airports and central city transportation hubs. (I’d like to make a personal plea for an efficient rail line between New York’s Kennedy airport and Midtown.) And I’d invest in education and the arts,which will be starving for new facilities given soaring state and municipal deficits. I would certainly not be investing in bridges to nowhere, which is why this program has to be run from the White House, not Congress.
13. I’d end compensation for failure. I’d legislatively ban employment contracts that call for huge severance payments without regard to performance. And I’d make prosecuting those guilty of fraud a top priority. When the government injects capital and takes a stake, I’d oust incumbent management unless there was a compelling reason not to. But I wouldn’t cap pay for success, including at big banks. This country needs incentives for the ingenuity, hard work, good judgment and experience that have made it great, now more than ever. I don’t begrudge Obama adviser Eric Schmidt at Google his billions; I wish we had more Googles, creating jobs and wealth and a product that benefits everyone.
14. As president, I’d be the spokesman-in-chief. Transparency is essential. People have to understand what steps are being taken and why. They have to understand how the U.S.
can afford all this, and how their tax money is being invested in our future rather than spent on useless pork. I’d be out talking and listening in the offices, the factories, the farms of America, not huddled in the White House.
15. I realize all this is easy for me to say. I’m not a politician, and I don’t envy anyone the rigors of a national campaign or the prospect of negotiating with Congress. But I think this is a great time to be president of the U.S., and if I were Barack Obama, I’d be seizing the historic opportunity that has just been handed me.
1. 人們認為目前的形勢對一位即將上任的新總統實在不是個好時機，我對此有些不解。
2. 看看那些經過曆史檢驗的真正偉大的總統吧——亞伯拉罕·林肯、富蘭克林·羅斯福和喬治·華盛頓，他們全都是在危機時期執掌國家的。再想象一下在危機剛開始出現時當政的總統結果會怎樣，譬如赫伯特·胡佛或現任總統喬治·布什。
3. 畢竟，如果國家一切都好、人們可以輕易得到貸款、股市不斷創下曆史新高、投機商還在炒作拉斯維加斯的高檔公寓的話，奧巴馬競選時也就不必打出“變革”的口號了。危機對成就那些在通常情況下難以想象的事情提供了政治掩護。
4. 危機帶來的好處不一而足，比如，眼下我們可以忘掉赤字，因為我們從大蕭條的經曆和凱恩斯派經濟學家那裏已經知道，在這次這樣的危機時期，政府必須出手花錢。
第二次世界大戰給美國帶來了曆史上占國內生產總值最大比例的財政赤字，但它同時也終結了衰退。今後有的是時間來平衡預算。
5. 基於這一點，我設想假如這次是我當選總統的話，我會給眼下的經濟危機開出以下藥方：
6. 必須將強化銀行和金融體係作為當務之急。因貝爾斯登倒閉而日益遭受重創的市場信心必須加以恢複。從美國國際集團的災難中我們學到的教訓是，你不能在大銀行周圍建條護城河後就以為萬事大吉了。
7. 非銀行參與者在全球金融體係中的作用同樣重要，大家都知道所謂短板效應：水桶的容量取決於最短的那塊木板。這意味著要向保險公司和諸如GMAC、通用金融這樣的綜合性集團的金融分支注資，在適當的情況下換取其優先股和權益股份。這些應該是不錯的投資，因為危機在很大程度上是心理上的，隨著市場信心的複蘇，資產的價值也會回升。
8. 對搖搖欲墜的大型企業，美國需要一套綜合性政策，或許可以從汽車業開始。
9. 這種政策不可以再采取就事論事、個案處理的方式，這樣隻會對一些被視為“大而不倒”的公司有利，卻讓其他公司走向破產。我讚成沃倫·巴菲特的方式：購買有股息的優先股和可以低廉價格收購權益股份的認購權證。實際上，我或許會要求巴菲特出麵負責此項工作。這不能是針對私人股權投資公司或現有股東的救助。財政部的一些人應該開始像不良資產經理人那樣考慮問題，因為他們將管理納稅人的錢、讓這些錢贏利；他們還將不得不硬起心腸對哪些投資有可能賺錢、哪些不可能作出決定。
10. 這會不會被貼上“社會主義”的標簽？如果美國能始終如一地把自己當做納稅人的托管人來管理這些股份，那就不會。作為托管人，它將站在納稅人的一邊，而不是管理層和其他利益集團的一邊。美國應該像是這些公司的私人股權投資公司那樣行事，從企業的長遠改善出發，然後擇機退出（最好能帶著贏利）。
11. 大蕭條帶來的另一個經驗是基礎建設開支能有所幫助，且可以成為很好的長期投資。中國剛剛出台了相當於5,860 億美元的經濟刺激計劃，其中包括用於建設機場、鐵路和公路、住房等工程的開支項目。這些項目將改善人們的生活質量，提高生產率，刺激經濟增長。美國也不缺乏類似的需求。
12. 如果我當選前承諾減少對外國石油的依賴，那麽，我會向公共交通係統投入大筆資金，包括機場和中心城市交通樞紐之間的道路。（我個人會呼籲在紐約肯尼迪機場與曼哈頓中城區之間建設快速軌道線。）我還會對教育和藝術投資，鑒於各州、市預算赤字急劇上升，這些領域應會急需新設施。我當然不會對那些沒什麽人使用的橋梁投資，這也就是為什麽這個計劃要由白宮而不是國會來運作的原因。
13. 我會停止對失敗者提供補償。我將尋求從立法上禁止簽署不論業績好壞都要求大筆離職補償金的雇用合同。我還將把對欺詐罪提起訴訟作為頭等要務。當政府注資並取得股權時，我將把在任管理層趕走，除非有非常有力的理由要求我不這麽做。但我不會限製業績出色者的薪酬標準，包括對大銀行。這個國家需要對有獨創精神、工作努力、有判斷力和富有經驗的人給予鼓勵，現在尤為如此，因為正是這些人讓它成為一個偉大的國家。我並不嫉妒奧巴馬的顧問、穀歌首席執行長施密特所擁有的數十億美元，我希望我們有更多像穀歌這樣的公司，它們能創造就業和財富以及能讓每個人受益的產品。
14. 作為總統，我將是這個國家的首席發言人。透明度至關重要。人們必須了解國家正在采取的措施和為什麽要采取這些措施。他們必須理解美國怎樣才能負擔所有這一切、他們繳納的稅款怎樣被用於對我們未來有益的投資，而不是被變成沒用的小恩小惠。我會走出去，到寫字樓、工廠、鄉村，跟人們交談，傾聽他們的想法，而不是整天縮在白宮閉門造車。
15. 我知道，所有這些我說起來很容易。我不是政治家，我也不嫉妒任何有勇氣參加大選或將與國會談判的人。但我想，現在是做美國總統是大好時機。如果我是奧巴馬，我會抓住這個曆史賦予我的機遇。
2009 Brings Hard Choices Over the Future of Capitalism2009年，資本主義舉步維艱1. Happy New Year? You must be joking. 2009 will begin with a wail, and then get worse.
Millions of people have already been put out of work, across the world, by this first truly globalised crisis of capitalism. Tens of millions more will be made jobless soon. Those of us lucky enough still to have work will feel poorer and less secure. To celebrate his Nobel Prize in economics, Paul Krugman promises us months of “economic hell”.
Thank you, Paul, and a happy new year to you too.
2. Economic troubles will exacerbate political tensions. But rumours of the death of capitalism have been exaggerated. I don’t think 2009 will be to capitalism what 1989was to communism. Maybe on 1 January 2010 I’ll have to eat these words. Prediction is a mug’s game. (In the Economist’s predictive almanac, The World in 2009, the editor has a brave and amusing little column titled “About 2008: Sorry”.) But as this year begins I don’t see any serious systemic competitor on the horizon — in the way there appeared to be in the days of Soviet communism before 1989. The Hugo Chavez model of socialism depends on capitalists buying his oil, and if you fancy the North Korean model you need to see a doctor.
3. Something will be very wrong, however, if the assumptions of the kind of free-market capitalism — sometimes called “neoliberal”— that has appeared triumphant since 1989are not re-examined in this 20th anniversary year. First there’s the balance between state and market, public and private, the visible and invisible hand. Even before last September’s meltdown, Barack Obama was trying to nudge his compatriots towards the idea that government is not always a dirty word. Subsequent months have seen a dramatic shift towards a larger role for the state, usually in spasms of desperate governmental improvisation, sometimes (as in Gordon Brown’s London) ideologically legitimated as Keynesianism, sometimes (as in George Bush’s Washington) just plain,unvarnished Desperationism.
4. How much of that shift is temporary and how much will endure is something we won’t know by the end of this year. While most of the movement is towards strengthening the visible hand of government, it may not all go that way. A leading Chinese economic reformer recently argued to me that the Asian financial crisis of a decade ago had catalysed more market-oriented reform of the Chinese economy, and this one would do the same.
5. If he is right, one could even imagine a kind of global convergence on some version of a European-style social market economy, with the US and China approaching from different ends. But it’s important to stress the words “some version”. Even within Europe, there are large variations in the mix of state and market, and in the way that mix is organised. What works for one small northern country may not work for a large southern one. There’s no universal formula. What matters is what works for you.
6. A second rethink for 2009 concerns what is needed for sustainable, green, low-carbon growth, to avert the tipping-point in global warming. At issue is how much and what kind of growth. Again, Obama is trying to discover the chance of this crisis, orienting part of his Keynesian fiscal stimulus towards investment in alternative energy. Yet on balance, this seems likely to be a bad year for the fight against global warming.
7. Moving towards a sustainable, low-carbon economy requires both companies and governments to pay short-term costs for long-term benefits. When they have their backs to the wall they usually do the opposite. Probably the best we can hope for is that they will avoid the beggar-my-neighbour economic nationalism of the 1930s. To get them beyond that will require a deeper shift in the expectations of voters and shareholders. So long as we, the people, are guided in our personal financial and political choices by the lodestar of short to medium-term economic gain, we shouldn’t blame our leaders for trying to give us what we ask for.
8. So a third essential prise de conscience involves looking again at our personal lodestars.
How much more in money and things do we need? Is enough as good as a feast? Could we manage with less? What really matters to you? What contributes most to your individual happiness?
9. Believe it or not, there’s now a whole academic subfield of happiness studies. The economist Richard Layard has written an interesting book, Happiness: Lessons from a New Science. Is this what Freidrich Nietzsche meant by “the gay science”? A Dutch scholar, Ruut Veenhoven, has created a World Database of Happiness, including national rankings. Its results were reported on a Canadian website under the headline “Canada beats US in global happiness index” — beating the United States being itself a clear material contribution to Canadian happiness. A rival ranking and “world map of happiness” has emerged from Leicester University. Denmark scores top in both of them.
There’s even a Journal of Happiness Studies. Whatever you think of the substantive value of this stuff—sorry, science—you can spend a happy hour surfing it on the web,and wondering how much of it has been invented.
10. Seriously, though, some of the choices do come back to individual middle-class citizens of richer countries. It must be obvious that the planet cannot sustain 6.7 billion people living as does today’s middle class in North America and western Europe—let alone the projected 9 billion world population in mid-century. Either a large part of humankind has to be excluded from the benefits of prosperity or our way of life has to change.
11. The mantra with which most political and business leaders enter 2009 is “back to economic growth, whatever it costs”. Like the crew of a sailing boat in a storm, they just want to keep it afloat and moving through the waves in some direction — never mind which. But even as we weather the worst of the storm, which has not hit us yet, we should be taking a hard look at the course we are steering. That requires leadership of a high order, but also citizens demanding such leadership. Would I personally be happy making the changes in my way of life that would be necessary? Almost certainly not.
But I’d at least like to know what they would be.
1. 新年快樂？你一定是在開玩笑。2009 年一開年即是遍地哀鴻，今後隻會更糟糕。
真正意義上的第一次全球經濟危機開始以來，全世界已有數以百萬計的人失業。不久的將來還會有上千萬的人失業。我們這些尚有工作的幸運兒，也會變窮，變得沒有安全感。保羅·克拉曼曾向我們許諾，會有幾個月的經濟地獄等著我們。謝了，保羅，也祝你今年快樂。
2. 緊張的政治形勢會因經濟危機而加劇惡化。但就此宣稱資本主義的末日已到，也太過誇大其詞。我不認為2009 年就是資本主義末日，這次並不像1989 年對共產主義的意義一樣。也許2010 年的1 月1 日，我會因此話而自打嘴巴。預測可不是件能賺錢的事情。在經濟學家的年鑒，對2009 年的世界，編者起了一個膽大且別出心裁的題目“關於2008：隻能說對不起”。但是，在今年伊始，我不覺得任何世界上誕生了任何比資本主義更具競爭力的體製，而在1989 年，的確是出現了比蘇維埃共和國的共產主義更具競爭力的體製的。烏戈·查維斯的社會主義模式建立在向資本主義國家出售其石油的基礎上，當然，如果你向往建立北朝鮮的社會主義模式，我想你該去看看醫生了。
3. 盡管如此，從1989 年開始在世界上占主導地位的自由市場資本主義假設不能度過今年這一20 周年的紀念日，那麽將會發生很大的問題。首先，市場和國家的平衡，公眾和私人的平衡，可見的手和不可見的手的平衡，將被打破。早在去年9 月份政治權利變更以來，奧巴馬不斷試圖提醒他的同胞們，政府並不總是給人負麵的印象。
接下來的幾個月裏，我們看到聯邦政府扮演的角色發生了翻天覆地的變化，變得非常重要。通常麵臨絕境的政府會靈機一動，如在喬治·布朗時代的倫敦，產生了凱恩斯主義，合法的從意識形態上拯救了資本主義，又如喬治·布什時代的華盛頓，留給人民的隻有痛苦和絕望。
4. 到今年年底之前，我們無從得知，這種變革會曆時多久，代價多高。現在大多數舉措都著手於加強政府這隻看得見的手的作用，但也許並不見效。一個具有前瞻性的中國經濟改革者最近跟我討論說，亞洲10 年錢的經濟危機促發了中國經濟轉向市場經濟，而這次的變革，也會造成同樣的後果。
5. 若他所說是正確的，可以想象從某種觀點看來，歐洲，美國，中國的社會經濟體製，會在一種全球集權的政策下，走向不同的方向。但是，這裏要強調的是，某種觀點。
即使在歐洲內部，國家和市場的融合差異程度不同，而且融合的方式也不同。適合北歐小國的體製，不見得適合南歐大國。沒有世界通用的體製，重要的是，每個國家適合什麽。
6. 遙望2009 年，第二個值得關注的事情是，為了避免全球變暖，該怎麽來追求可持續的綠色無二氧化碳發展。現在的問題是怎樣來發展，以及代價幾何。奧巴馬再一次試圖在危機中的發現轉機，利用凱恩斯主義的財政措施吸引可替代能源的投資。
然而一言以概之，今年不是一個對抗全球變暖的好時候。
7. 為了朝向一種可持續，低二氧化碳排放量的經濟社會發展，公司和政府都必須付出短暫的代價以獲取長遠的利益。當他們到了絕境的時候，他們通常采取反措施。我們所能做的最理想的打算，不過是他們能避免1930 年那種全軍覆沒的經濟國家主義。而讓他們超出我們的預期，需要選民們和股民們轉變他們的觀點。隻要我們，人民，看到長遠的經濟利益，而不計較短期的得失，我們就不會抱怨領導人沒有給予我們想要的東西。
8. 因此第三個核心的問題，是關於我們自身的道德探討。我們需要多少金錢和物資才夠呢？是否要日日歡宴？我們能否節約點？你最關心的是什麽？你幸福的最重要源泉是什麽？
9. 不管信與否，在關於幸福的研究中，衍生了一個很大的學術領域。經濟學家理查德拉雅寫過一本有趣的書，幸福：新科學的教程。這是否是佛雷德意指的蓋伊科學？
荷蘭學者，拉特維荷芬，創造了一個包括國家等級在內的世界幸福數據庫。它的結果登載在加拿大的網站上，標題為“加拿大的幸福指數高於美國”。對加拿大人的幸福而言，從物資上打敗了美國本身就是一種幸福。英國的萊斯特大學裏，提出另一具有競爭力的觀點和“全球幸福地球”。丹麥比加拿大和美國都還要幸福。甚至有一奔幸福研究雜誌。不管你如何看待這些研究的價值，抱歉，是科學，也可以花一些時間在網絡上享受幸福時光，並想想到底得到多少幸福感。
10. 回歸正題，盡管，有些選擇權還是會回到富國的中產階級手上。這個星球不可能讓世界上67 億人都過得如今天北美和西歐的中產階級一樣，且不談到本世紀中期，人口會達到90 億。要麽世界上大部分的人無法受益於經濟繁榮，要麽，我們開始改變。
11. 2009 年大多數政治和商業領袖的台詞是不計一切代價恢複經濟增長。如同暴風雨裏的一葉扁舟，他們隻是希望自己的船避過風浪繼續向某個方向前行，而不考慮方向為何。但是我們麵臨的是最猛烈的暴風雨，即使沒有波及我們，我們也要看看自己掌舵的方向。這需要有高素質的領導者，但人民也需要具有這種領袖素質。在變革之中，我自身的幸福是必須的嗎？答案幾乎是否定的。但是我需要你們知道，最終，幸福會來到。