BEC中級閱讀:退休政客如何撈錢?

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親愛的經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)家:
    Dear Economist,
    我是一個剛剛離休的資深政治人物。我一直相信,自己可以給某個大公司當(dāng)幾年顧問,貼補(bǔ)一下少得可憐的退休金。雖然我不懂業(yè)務(wù),但我的關(guān)系網(wǎng)有著不可衡量的價(jià)值。
    I am a senior political figure who has just left office. I always believed that I could make up for years of badly paid public service by advising a major company for a fat retainer. I know nothing about business, yet my network of contacts would be invaluable.
    但是,有人剛給我看了一種叫"Facebook"的東西,他們說,許多剛畢業(yè)的大學(xué)生都用這個。他們告訴我,我的"關(guān)系網(wǎng)"的經(jīng)濟(jì)價(jià)值已經(jīng)不如從前了。這是怎么了?
    But somebody has just shown me a thing called "Facebook", which they say is being used by lots of new graduates. I have been told that the economic value of my "network" is not what it was. What is going on?
    讀者:T.B.
    Yours, T.B.
    親愛的T.B.:
    Dear T.B.,
    網(wǎng)絡(luò)泡沫破裂的時(shí)候,也許你正忙著思考國際事務(wù)?
    Perhaps you were busy contemplating international affairs when the dot-com bubble burst?
    你所想的,似乎是一種過于簡單化的網(wǎng)絡(luò)模式,在這種模式下,規(guī)模大小就是決定因素。一臺傳真機(jī)什么都做不了,兩臺就可以互相通話了。由于每臺新機(jī)器都可以連接到整個網(wǎng)絡(luò)上,所以每臺新機(jī)器增加的價(jià)值都比上一臺機(jī)器多。這個道理也適用于手機(jī)、eBay和Facebook:規(guī)模大小增加一倍,增值卻超過一倍。所以,風(fēng)險(xiǎn)資本家會拿大筆資金培植大型網(wǎng)絡(luò),不論關(guān)系交情有多淺。
    You seem to be thinking of a simplistic model of networks, in which size is everything. One fax machine can do nothing, two can talk to each other, and because each new machine can connect to the entire network, each new machine adds more value than the last. Ditto for mobile phones, eBay and Facebook: twice as big is much more than twice as valuable. Venture capitalists therefore pay big bucks for large networks, no matter how shallow.
    然而,這種簡單的算法忽略了一種抵消效應(yīng):邊際收益遞減。第一批手機(jī)用來進(jìn)行好幾百萬美元的交易。今天,多加一部手機(jī)只不過多了一個教室短信的來源。很多在Facebook上注冊的人很快就會發(fā)現(xiàn),他們根本用不上它。
    Yet this simple arithmetic ignores an offsetting effect: diminishing marginal returns. The first mobile phones were used to conduct multi-million-dollar deals. One more mobile phone today is one more source of classroom text messages. Many people who sign up to Facebook quickly find they have no use for it.
    所以,不要因?yàn)槟愕年P(guān)系網(wǎng)比你兒子在Facebook上的朋友列表規(guī)模小而沮喪。他也許能跟別人分享U2樂隊(duì)的最新單曲,你卻有波諾(Bono)的電話號碼。把這種聯(lián)系轉(zhuǎn)化成金錢應(yīng)該不成問題。你可別把自己的退休休閑時(shí)光浪費(fèi)在Facebook上。
    So do not despair that your network is smaller than your son's list of Facebook friends. He may share the latest U2 single, but you have Bono's phone number. There should be no trouble monetising that sort of access. Don't fritter away your retirement leisure on Facebook.