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  • 资本主义和经济自由

    Capitalism and Economic Freedom
    ::资本主义与经济自由

    Capitalism is another term for   a free  market system or free enterprise system .  All three of these terms are used to describe the same type of economic system. In this type of   economy , people own the factors of production and make decisions based on their own best interest. Government limits its interference in the marketplace, and competition between sellers helps keep prices down for buyers. So what makes an economy capitalist? 
    ::资本主义是自由市场体系或自由企业体系的另一个术语,所有这三个术语都用来描述同一种经济体系。 在这类经济中,人们拥有生产要素并根据自己的最佳利益作出决定。 政府限制对市场的干预,卖方之间的竞争有助于降低买主的价格。 那么,是什么使经济资本主义成为资本主义呢?

    According to   economists , five conditions must be present for capitalism to exist: 
    ::经济学家认为,资本主义存在必须具备五个条件:

    1. economic freedom,
      ::经济自由,
    2. competition,
      ::竞争,
    3. voluntary exchange,
      ::自愿交换,
    4. private property rights,
      ::私有财产权,
    5. and a motive to earn profits (incentives).
      ::以及获利的动机(奖励措施)。

    Universal Generalizations
    ::普遍化

    • Goods and services are allocated through different economic systems.
      ::货物和服务是通过不同的经济制度分配的。
    • Capitalism is a competitive economic system in which private citizens own the factors of production.
      ::资本主义是一种竞争性经济制度,公民个人拥有生产要素。
    • The United States has a free enterprise system in which its citizens carry on their economic affairs freely but are subject to some government intervention and regulation.
      ::美国实行自由企业制度,其公民可自由从事经济事务,但需接受政府的一些干预和管制。

    Guiding Questions
    ::问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问 问

    1. How do people, acting individually or collectively through the government, make decisions about the allocation of goods and services?
      ::人们如何单独或通过政府集体采取行动,就商品和服务的分配作出决定?
    2. In what way has advanced technology and science affected the productivity and distribution of goods and services throughout the economy?
      ::先进技术和科学如何影响整个经济的货物和服务的生产力和分配?

    Characteristics of Capitalism
    ::资本主义的特点

    If economic freedom exists, everyone from producer to consumer has the freedom to enter into or leave the market. Producers can decide what to produce, how to produce, and for whom to produce.  They may also decide where to set up their businesses, hours of operation, and who to hire. Consumers can decide what to purchase, from which companies to do business with, where to work, how to work, and what to do with their earnings. Competition among sellers helps to keep prices low for consumers, as producers are competing with each other over how to attract and keep customers. At the same time, buyers will compete with each other to find the best products at the lowest price. Voluntary exchange is the freedom for both buyers and sellers to enter into the marketplace to buy or sell products. Sellers must believe that what they are selling is worth the price they are charging, while buyers must believe that the product they want to purchase is worth the money that they will be exchanging for the product. People have the right to own private property, or the right to own and control their possessions as they wish. Finally, the profit motive is the belief that people have the right to risk their money in a business venture or as an investment. The end result, of course, would be that if people are willing to invest, then they will get a return on their money above the amount they invested, and therefore people are considered better off.
    ::如果存在经济自由,那么从生产者到消费者,每个人都有进入或离开市场的自由。生产者可以决定生产什么产品,如何生产,为谁生产。他们也可以决定在哪里建立自己的企业,经营时间和谁可以雇用。消费者可以决定购买什么,哪些公司与哪些公司做生意,在哪里工作,如何工作,如何赚钱;卖方之间的竞争有助于保持消费者的低价,因为生产者在如何吸引和保持客户方面相互竞争。与此同时,买主将相互竞争,以最低的价格找到最好的产品。自愿交换是买主和卖主进入市场购买或销售产品的自由。卖主必须相信,他们出售的东西值得他们收取的价格,而买主必须相信,他们想要购买的产品值得他们交换产品的钱。人们有权拥有私有财产,或者有权拥有和控制自己的财产。最后,利润动机是人们有权进入市场,如果他们愿意投资的话,那么他们就会去投资的金额就会更高。

    Besides the five conditions that must be present for capitalism to function, there must also be: a consumer, an entrepreneur, and government. Each of these elements plays a role in the free enterprise system. The consumer helps determine which products a company makes and continues to produce based on their demand. If a product is rejected, then the company will no longer make it. Today consumers in a free market economy are very powerful since they can take their money to any “marketplace” that they wish to shop at. Consumption is one of the basic ingredients to make the market economy work. Without consumption, the economic activity of a country would suffer.
    ::除了资本主义运作必须具备的五个条件外,还必须有:消费者、企业家和政府在自由企业体系中扮演的角色。其中的每一个要素都由自由企业体系中发挥作用。消费者帮助确定公司根据需求制造和继续生产哪些产品。如果产品遭到拒绝,那么公司将不再生产。 如今,自由市场经济中的消费者非常强大,因为他们可以把他们的钱带到他们想要购买的任何“市场 ” 。 消费是使市场经济发挥作用的基本因素之一。 没有消费,一个国家的经济活动将受到损害。

    The entrepreneur is the “risk taker”. He or she is the one that comes up with a product, or a better product than what is currently available on the market. They may even find a better way to shop for a product (Amazon) or deliver a product (FedEx). The entrepreneur is the one that is willing to risk failure while trying to gain a position in the marketplace. If successful, the entrepreneur will be rewarded with monetary success, and the market will benefit with a new or better product than one that is currently in the store. In fact, more products of better quality benefit the consumer as the prices will generally adjust downward as more competition enters the market. 
    ::创业者是“风险承担者 ” , 他或她是产生产品或比市场上现有产品更好的产品的人,他们甚至可以找到更好的方式购买产品(亚马孙)或交付产品(FedEx ) 。 创业者是愿意在试图获得市场地位的同时冒险失败的人。 如果成功,创业者将获得货币成功的回报,市场将获得比目前商店中产品更好的新产品或更好的产品。 事实上,质量更好的产品将给消费者带来更多好处,因为随着更多的竞争进入市场,价格将普遍向下调整。

    Lastly, the government willingly  limits its intervention in the economy. In the United States, the government plays various roles such as:  regulator, protector, provider, consumer, and promoter.  As a regulator, the government is charged with ensuring competition in the market. It oversees businesses and its own agencies to make sure that industries are playing by certain rules. In the role of protector, the government enforces laws to prevent businesses from abusing or taking advantage of consumers. The government is also a provider of certain goods and services such as national defense, roads, public education, hospitals, libraries, and public welfare. In addition, the government is a consumer of goods. It purchases goods and services from the private sector such as office goods, buildings, and automobiles to run its offices and operate on a daily basis. Finally, this government is a promoter of national goals. The president, Congress, and administration of federal programs work to promote the goals of this economic system. As a result, this economy is no longer the same one it was fifty or even one hundred years ago. The government now reflects the expectations of the people and has moved the economy to what may be termed as a “modified private enterprise economy” or a “mixed economy”. It is clear that the economic system may continue to evolve as people’s needs change over time.
    ::最后,政府愿意限制对经济的干预。在美国,政府扮演着各种角色,例如:监管者、保护者、提供者、消费者和推动者。作为一个监管者,政府负责确保市场竞争。政府负责确保市场竞争。政府监督企业和自己的机构,确保行业根据某些规则发挥作用。政府作为保护者,执行法律,防止企业滥用或利用消费者。政府也是某些商品和服务的提供者,如国防、道路、公共教育、医院、图书馆和公共福利。此外,政府是商品的消费者。政府从私营部门购买货物和服务,如办公用品、建筑和汽车,以管理办公室和日常运作。最后,政府是国家目标的推动者。总统、国会和联邦方案行政部门致力于促进这一经济体系的目标。因此,经济不再像50年前那样,甚至100年前那样。 政府现在反映人民的期望,把经济转变为可以被称为“改革后的私人经济”或“改革后的国民经济体系。”

     Viewpoints:
    ::视图点 :

    "If eyes are opened, or opening, to the rights of man. The general spread of the light of science has already laid open to every view the palpable truth, that the mass of mankind has not been born with saddles on their backs, nor a favored few booted and spurred, ready to ride legitimately, by the grace of God.  "
    ::"如果睁开眼睛,或者睁开眼睛,人的权利。科学之光的普遍传播,已经为各种观点打开了大门。 显而易见的真理,即人类的群众没有背着马鞍诞生,也没有几个受宠爱、受宠若惊、愿意合法骑马的人,在上帝的恩惠下,愿意合法骑马的人。"

    –Thomas Jefferson, letter to Roger C. Weightman, June 24, 1826
    ::-托马斯·杰斐逊 给罗杰·C·魏曼的信 1826年6月24日

    Writing in anticipation of the 50th anniversary of America’s Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson optimistically believed that the example of American freedom and individual rights had opened the eyes of the world to the value of liberty. Nearly two centuries after Jefferson wrote, it is clear that America has indeed been the shining example of freedom for the rest of the world. Since Jefferson wrote, people around the globe have sought either to imitate the example of American freedom by replicating its institutions or to enjoy that freedom directly by migrating to the United States.
    ::托马斯·杰斐逊在期待美国独立宣言50周年之际写道,乐观地认为美国自由和个人权利的榜样让世界看到了自由的价值。 杰斐逊写了近两个世纪之后,显然美国确实是世界其他地方自由的光辉榜样。 自杰斐逊写道以来,全球人民要么试图模仿美国自由的榜样,复制美国的机构,要么直接通过移居美国来享受自由。

    The example of American freedom is a powerful one. Nowhere else has the liberty of average citizens been greater, more secure, and more protected. Lovers of freedom have admired all its aspects; from our protection of religious conscience to our free elections, from our freedom of speech to our impartial judicial system to our ability to choose our own private associations and more. One of the most persuasive features of our freedom, of course, is America’s high degree of economic freedom and the wealth and widespread abundance that has resulted from it.
    ::美国自由的榜样是强大的。 普通公民的自由在其他地方都没有比普通公民更加强大、更加安全和更加受保护。 自由的爱人崇拜了自由的所有方面;从我们保护宗教良知到我们的自由选举,从我们的言论自由到我们的公正司法制度,到我们选择自己私人协会和更多人的能力。 当然,我们自由最有说服力的特点之一是美国高度的经济自由以及由此带来的财富和广泛财富。

    Surveying the record of American productivity and prosperity is an inspiring task. In the space of just one-and-a-half centuries, American standards of living not only rose above those of most of the rest of the world, but they also rose beyond all expectation. Who among the most visionary forecasters of the mid-19th century could have imagined both the nearly unlimited economic opportunities available to Americans in the 21st-century and the fact that these opportunities would be available to everyone who  labored  to achieve them without regard to race, creed, noble birth, or the accidents of fortune?
    ::调查美国的生产力和繁荣记录是一项鼓舞人心的任务。 在仅仅一个半个世纪的时间里,美国的生活水平不仅高于世界大部分地区的生活水平,而且超过了所有预期。 在19世纪中叶最有远见的预测者中,谁能够想象21世纪美国人可以获得的几乎无限的经济机会,以及不论种族、信仰、高尚的出生或命运的意外,所有为实现这些目标而努力的人都可以获得这些机会?

    Our ancestors would scarcely recognize a world where jet airliners whisk people from hemisphere to hemisphere in less than a day, where information about world events is available instantaneously, where corporations coordinate the economic activity of tens of thousands of employees around the globe (working in modern, climate-controlled high-rise offices, no less) while producing products to be sold to tens of millions, where diseases, plagues, and famines are a rare and tragic exception and not an accepted part of life.
    ::我们的祖先几乎不会承认这样一个世界:喷气式飞机飞机在不到一天的时间内将人从半球运到半球,即时提供有关世界事件的信息,公司协调全球数万雇员的经济活动(在现代、气候控制的高层办公室工作,同样如此),同时生产产品出售给数以千万计的人,而疾病、瘟疫和饥荒是罕见和悲惨的例外,不是人们所接受的生活的一部分。

    Even the richest American in the early 19th-century would likely marvel at what is available to the average worker in 2008–the dizzying variety of food (from year-round fresh fruits and vegetables to exotic meats to instantly prepared meals-on-the-go), the comforts of life (from cheap clothing and transportation to modern housing and appliances), and the provision for optimal health (from MRIs and laser surgeries to organ transplants and universal vaccination), and beyond. That same 19th-century elite would be flabbergasted and stupefied by the fact that obesity–essentially, the consumption of too many calories and expenditure of too little physical labor–is a leading problem among the poor. In sum, by all economic measures, each successive generation of Americans enjoys indisputably better lives than previous ones. They work less and earn more, they can spend less on necessities and more on conveniences, and they live longer more pleasurable and more productive lives.
    ::即便是19世纪初最富有的美国人也有可能对2008年普通工人所能得到的东西感到惊奇 — — 食品种类繁多(从一年的新鲜水果和蔬菜到外来肉类,到即时准备的就餐),生活舒适(从廉价的衣着和交通到现代住房和电器),以及提供最佳健康(从消毒和激光手术到器官移植和普遍接种)等 — — 2008年,普通工人可能感到惊讶 — — 令人头晕的食品种类繁多(从全年新鲜水果和蔬菜到外来肉类,到即时准备就餐)、生活舒适(从廉价的服装和交通到现代住房和电器 ) , 以及最佳健康(从MRIs和激光手术到器官移植和普遍接种 ) 等 — — 。 同样的19世纪精英也会因为肥胖 — — 主要是太多的热量和太少的体力劳动支出 — — — 成为穷人的一个主要问题而感到惊讶。 总之,通过所有经济措施,每一代美国人的生活都比前一代人生活得无可争议地更好。 他们的工作和挣钱,他们可以少而少,他们可以少花钱花费在必需品上更便宜,他们可以少一些必需品和方便、更方便、更方便的生活。

    It is not just migrants and imitators, however, who have noticed the superior material results accrued by Americans as a result of their high levels of freedom. Over the past 20 years, scholars have increasingly directed attention to the problem of measuring different levels of prosperity around the world and correlating those observations with the differing levels of freedom. Since 1995, the Heritage Foundation and the Wall Street Journal have produced the annual Index of Economic Freedom , which scores the nations of the world on a multi-factor formula that determines their level of economic freedom. Since 1996, the Fraser Institute and Cato Institute have teamed with an international network of free market think tanks to produce and distribute the annual Economic Freedom of the World reports.
    ::然而,不仅仅是移民和模仿者注意到美国人因其高度自由而获得的优异物质成果,在过去20年中,学者们越来越关注衡量世界各地不同繁荣水平的问题,并将这些意见与不同自由水平联系起来,自1995年以来,传统基金会和《华尔街日报》每年出版《经济自由指数》,该指数在决定其经济自由水平的多要素公式上给世界各国打分;自1996年以来,弗雷泽研究所和卡托研究所与自由市场智囊团国际网络联手制作和分发《世界经济自由年度报告》。

    These studies’ conclusions are unambiguous and clear–-economic freedom not only correlates with economic growth and prosperity, but also is a direct cause of and necessary condition for it. Likewise, comparing these lists of the most economically free countries with the annual ranking of countries according to levels of political freedom and civil liberties by Freedom House, titled Freedom in the World , shows a direct link between levels of political and economic freedom.
    ::这些研究结论是明确无误的 — — 经济自由不仅与经济增长和繁荣相关,而且也是经济增长和繁荣的直接原因和必要条件。 同样,将经济最自由国家名单与自由之家每年按政治自由和公民自由水平排列的国家名单进行比较(《世界自由》的标题是“自由 ” ) , 显示了政治和经济自由水平之间的直接联系。

    Economic Freedom in America
    ::美国经济自由

    The United States has consistently scored in the top 10 of each of these studies, confirming the high degree of economic and political freedom enjoyed by Americans. Despite the high-level of economic freedom in America generally, there is, nevertheless, a wide degree of variation in the United States itself. That uneven level of freedom forms the heart of our study and poses the central questions for it. How does economic freedom vary in the United States? What are the causes and the results of that variation?
    ::美国一贯在每份研究报告的前10名中得分,这证明美国人享有高度的经济和政治自由。尽管美国经济自由程度很高,但美国本身却存在很大差异。这种不均衡的自由水平是我们研究的核心,并提出了核心问题。美国经济自由如何不同?这种差异的原因和结果是什么?

    Video: What is Economic Freedom?
    ::影片:什么是经济自由?

    Despite the high aggregate levels of economic freedom found in the United States, especially as compared with other nations, there is, nevertheless, a lack of uniformity in the distribution of that freedom. Within the United States, different groups of citizens experience different levels of economic freedom, often with drastic results. The lines that divide the levels of freedom in America are not based on class or race or sex. Instead, the origin of variation is found in the very nature of the American political compact–the federal nature of our republic. Because each of the 50 states has the sovereign power to direct local economic policy within its boundaries, there can be 50 different climates of economic freedom in the United States.
    ::尽管美国经济自由的总体水平很高,特别是与其他国家相比,美国经济自由的分布并不统一。 在美国,不同的公民群体经历了不同的经济自由水平,其结果往往是巨大的。 美国自由水平的分界线并非基于阶级、种族或性别。 相反,差异的根源在于美国政治契约的本质 — — 我们共和国的联邦性质。 由于50个州中的每一个州都拥有在其边界内指导地方经济政策的主权权力,因此美国经济自由的氛围可能存在50种差异。

    Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis once observed that the states could serve as “laboratories of democracy” by “try[ing] novel social and economic experiments.” Brandeis hoped that the states could experiment with economic policy and thereby encourage more economic planning, more regulation, and more intervention on the socialist model. His observation about the potential for the states to serve as laboratories is an apt one, even if the results are the opposite of what he might have expected. Instead of embracing the socialist model through state-level experimentation, Americans have demonstrated their belief in economic freedom by adopting the most basic strategy available to them–by doing what economist Charles Tiebout called “voting with their feet.”  That is, given the freedom of Americans to move from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, we have found that Americans move away from states that impose regimes of less economic freedom in favor of those upholding more economic freedom.
    ::最高法院法官路易斯·布兰德伊斯曾经指出,各州可以通过“尝试新的社会和经济实验”来充当“民主实验室 ” 。 勃兰德利斯希望各州能够尝试经济政策,从而鼓励更多的经济规划、更多的监管和对社会主义模式的更多干预。 他关于各州作为实验室的潜力的观点非常恰当,即使其结果与他所期望的相反。 美国人没有通过州一级的实验来接受社会主义模式,而是通过采取他们可以利用的最基本战略 — — 采取经济学家查尔斯·铁布(Charles Tiebout)所称的“用脚进行投票 ” — —来表明他们对经济自由的信念。 也就是说,鉴于美国人可以自由地从司法管辖区转移到司法管辖区,我们发现美国人已经离开那些将经济自由程度较低的制度强加于那些支持经济自由程度更高的国家。

    Definitions, Assumptions, and Methods
    ::定义、假设和方法

    At first glance , freedom can be a difficult concept to measure. Freedom, as a concept, is as old as written history itself. The earliest example of its written form dates to the 24th-century B.C. It initially seems quite simple–nearly everyone recognizes the visceral reaction when one’s freedom is restricted. When people do or do not feel restrained or curtailed by some authority, there we might find a rough measure of the extent of their freedom. Yet this is too simplistic. We cannot rely merely on self-reporting to measure something as important as freedom. We need a more objective standard by which we can determine whether a society or a government upholds and protects freedom or restricts and denies freedom. In short, we need a set of criteria based on an explicit definition of economic freedom whereby we can measure objectively the levels of freedom state-by-state. Thus, we must begin our study with a clear definition of freedom.
    ::乍一看,自由可能是一个难以衡量的概念。 自由作为一个概念,与书面历史本身一样古老。 其书面形式最早的例子是公元前24世纪的公元前。 最初看来很简单 — — 几乎每个人都认识到当一个人的自由受到限制时的内心反应。 当人们是否感到受到某种权威的限制或限制时,我们可能会发现一个粗略的衡量其自由程度的方法。 然而,这过于简单化了。 我们不能仅仅依靠自我报告来衡量像自由这样重要的东西。 我们需要更客观的标准来决定一个社会或政府是坚持还是保护自由,还是限制和剥夺自由。 简言之,我们需要一套基于经济自由的明确定义的标准,据此我们可以客观地衡量国家的自由水平。 因此,我们必须从一个明确的自由定义开始我们的研究。

    Economic freedom is an application of political freedom. The most basic distinction at the heart of the concept of freedom is the distinction between voluntary action and compulsion or coercion . Where individuals can choose their thoughts and actions, where they are free from physical coercion, they are free. We operate from a negative definition of freedom–it means the absence of physical restraints that halt or forcibly redirect one’s thoughts or actions. In the economic realm, this means that economic freedom is the freedom to produce and trade goods and services according to one’s own judgment, unrestrained by the physical coercion or compulsion of others, including the government. One must be free to acquire, use, and dispose of private property. Individuals must be free to enter into voluntary contractual relationships. The root identification here is that no man has a moral right to stake a claim on the productive activity of another against his will.
    ::经济自由是政治自由的一种应用。 自由概念的核心最基本的区别是自愿行动和强迫或胁迫之间的区别。 当个人可以选择思想和行动时,在不受肉体胁迫的情况下,他们是自由的。 我们从对自由的否定定义运作,这意味着没有停止或强行改变个人思想或行动的身体限制。 在经济领域,这意味着经济自由是个人根据自己的判断生产和买卖商品和服务的自由,不受包括政府在内的他人的身体胁迫或强迫的束缚。 一个人必须能够自由获得、使用和处置私人财产。 个人必须能够自由建立自愿契约关系。 这里的基本特征是,没有人有道德权利违背他人的意愿,要求他人从事生产性活动。

    The implementation of freedom in society requires the identification and protection of individual rights, including property rights, and the creation of a government restrained by the rule of law, with the sole purpose of that government being the protection of those rights. Under this ideology, the proper functions of government are the provision of a realm of freedom for individuals to engage freely in economic transactions. To provide these freedoms, a government must protect its citizens from bodily harm or physical coercion from criminals or hostile foreign powers. It must also provide a system of courts and laws that objectively define the rules of social interaction among individuals–that is, they must prohibit the initiation of force and place the retaliatory use of force under the control of a properly delimited government. Under such a system, individuals are free to exercise their rights in any manner that does not violate the rights of others. In the economic realm, this means that the government must provide a legal system whereby individuals’ rights to property and contract are upheld and where disputes can be settled by law, not violence.
    ::在社会上落实自由要求确认和保护个人权利,包括财产权,并建立一个受法治制约的政府,其唯一目的是保护这些权利。根据这种意识形态,政府的适当职能是规定个人自由从事经济交易的自由领域。为了提供这些自由,政府必须保护其公民免受罪犯或敌对外国势力的人身伤害或人身胁迫。政府还必须提供一个法院和法律系统,客观地界定个人之间的社会互动规则,即必须禁止使用武力,将报复性使用武力置于适当划定的政府控制之下。在这种制度下,个人可以自由地以不侵犯他人权利的任何方式行使其权利。在经济领域,这意味着政府必须提供一个法律制度,使个人的财产权和契约权得到维护,争端可以依法解决,而不是通过暴力解决。

    Consumers making choices in a supermarket.
    ::消费者在超市里做选择

    In summary, we define economic freedom as the right of individuals to pursue their interests through voluntary exchange of private property under rule of law.
    ::总之,我们把经济自由定义为个人通过在法治下自愿交换私有财产追求自身利益的权利。

    In order to make the measurement of different levels of economic freedom more objective, this requires that we specify a series of indicators and tie them to whether they advance or inhibit the proper functions of government in regard to an economy. In cases where an indicator leads, for example, to a greater ability of individuals to contract voluntarily with their fellow citizens, such a variable indicates a greater degree of freedom. Where an indicator leads to a diminished capacity for individuals to acquire, use, or dispose of their private property, for example, such a variable indicates a lesser degree of freedom.
    ::为了更客观地衡量不同程度的经济自由,这就要求我们具体规定一系列指标,并将这些指标与是否促进或阻碍政府在经济方面的适当职能挂钩,例如,如果指标导致个人与公民自愿订约的能力提高,则这种变数表示更大的自由程度;如果指标导致个人获取、使用或处置其私人财产的能力下降,例如,这种变数表示自由程度较低。

    This central insight has been the heart of a continuing project of studying and evaluating economic freedom in America. This 2008 Report is the third edition of the U.S. Economic Freedom Index , which began in a 1999 study by John D. Byars, Robert E. McCormick, and T. Bruce Yandle, and was revised in 2004 by Ying Huang, Robert E. McCormick, and Lawrence J. McQuillan. It measures the differing levels of economic freedom on a state-by-state basis. By applying a methodology similar to the comparison of economic freedom between countries, we have endeavored to measure different levels of economic freedom between states. That is, we have compiled criteria that illustrate a range of characteristics that indicate levels of freedom and that can vary between states. We define economic freedom as the right of individuals to pursue their interests through voluntary exchange of private property under rule of law.
    ::这一核心见解是美国持续研究和评估经济自由项目的核心。本2008年报告是美国经济自由指数第三版,始于John D. Byars、Robert E. McCormick和T. Bruce Yandle的1999年研究报告,2004年由黄英英、Robert E. McCormick和Lawrence J. McQuillan修订,在州和州基础上衡量经济自由的不同水平。通过采用类似于国家间经济自由比较的方法,我们努力衡量国家间经济自由的不同水平。也就是说,我们汇编了各种标准,说明显示各国间自由水平和可能有所不同的各种特征。我们把经济自由定义为个人通过法治下的自愿交换私有财产追求自身利益的权利。

    What Others Have Said
    ::其他人所说的话

    The literature on economic freedom has been growing significantly in recent years. Since the original publication of this index, scholars have focused more attention on the basic questions we investigate and their implications. Does economic freedom vary in significant ways in the United States? Can we observe a movement of people and human capital across state borders in response to differing levels of freedom?  Is economic growth and personal income higher in states with more economic freedom?
    ::近年来,关于经济自由的文献一直在大幅增长,自最初出版该指数以来,学者们更加关注我们调查的基本问题及其影响。 经济自由在美国是否有很大差异?我们能否观察到人员和人力资本因自由程度不同而跨越国界的移动?在经济自由程度较高的国家,经济增长和个人收入是否更高?

    In a wider conception, however, the literature on economic freedom was already well established and historically rich when this index was first published. Great minds throughout history have observed and remarked on the relationship between political and economic freedom and have arrived at the same conclusions. Our purpose here will be to survey their thought briefly and then review the modern literature.
    ::然而,在更广泛的概念中,关于经济自由的文献在首次出版这一指数时已经很牢固,历史丰富。 历史上的伟大思想观察和评论了政治和经济自由之间的关系,并得出了同样的结论。 我们在这里的目的是简要地研究他们的想法,然后回顾现代的文献。

    Eric Daniels is a research assistant professor at the Clemson Institute for the Study of Capitalism at Clemson University in Clemson, South Carolina.
    ::Eric Daniels是南卡罗来纳州克莱姆森大学克莱姆森资本主义研究所研究助理教授。

    Additional Resources:
    ::追加资源:

    Benefits of Economic Freedom
    ::经济自由的惠益

    Follow the link below to read an article by James M. Roberts and Ryan Olson on the benefits of economic freedom.
    ::以下是詹姆斯·罗伯茨和瑞安·奥尔森关于经济自由的好处的文章,

     

    Video: Voluntary Exchange
    ::视频:自愿交流

    View the video below for a  break down of  the term "voluntary exchange."
    ::浏览下方的视频以解析“自愿交换”一词。

    Video: Capitalism and the Hunger Games
    ::录像:资本主义和饥饿运动会

    In this video, economics teacher Jacob Clifford uses The Hunger Games to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of capitalism.
    ::在影片中, 经济学老师Jacob Clifford利用“饥饿游戏”来讨论资本主义的利弊。

    Answer the self check questions below to monitor your understanding of the concepts in this section.
    ::回答下面的自我核对问题,以监测你对本节概念的理解。

    Self Check Questions
    ::自查问题

    1. Identify the role of the economy in a free enterprise economy.
    ::1. 确定经济在自由企业经济中的作用。

    2. Give at least three examples of voluntary exchange you have made in the last week. Are you better off than you were before these purchases? How do you know? 
    ::2. 请至少举三个例子说明你上周自愿交换的事例。你是否比这些购买之前更好?你怎么知道?

    3. Describe the role of the entrepreneur. Can anyone be an entrepreneur? What does an entrepreneur need? Would you like to be an entrepreneur? 
    ::3. 描述创业者的作用:任何人都能成为创业者吗?创业者需要什么?你想成为创业者吗?

    4. What are the 5 major characteristics of a free enterprise system?
    ::4. 自由企业系统的五个主要特征是什么?

    5. What are the consequences of consumer economic decisions? How does the consumer impact the economy? What is the main goal of the consumer?
    ::5. 消费者经济决定的后果是什么?消费者对经济有何影响?消费者的主要目标是什么?

    6. How have our economic goals changed over the last 100 years? Will our economic goals continue to change over time? How do you know the goals will change? Give an example of 2 changes in economic goals.
    ::6. 我们的经济目标在过去100年中是如何变化的?我们的经济目标是否会随着时间的推移而继续变化?你如何知道这些目标将发生变化?举两个经济目标变化的例子。

    7. How do people and businesses benefit from economic freedom?
    ::7. 人民和企业如何受益于经济自由?

    8. Of the roles that the government plays in the economy, which role do you believe is the most important? Why? Which role is the least important? Why?
    ::8. 在政府在经济中扮演的角色中,你认为哪个角色最重要?为什么?哪个角色最不重要?为什么?为什么?什么角色最不重要?