經濟學原理 1.1 節：什麼是經濟學？為什麼它很重要？

Economics is the study of how humans make decisions in the face of scarcity. These can be individual decisions, family decisions, business decisions or societal decisions. If you look around carefully, you will see that scarcity is a fact of life. Scarcity means that human wants for goods, services and resources exceed what is available. Resources, such as labor, tools, land, and raw materials are necessary to produce the goods and services we want but they exist in limited supply. Of course, the ultimate scarce resource is time—everyone, rich or poor, has just 24 expendable hours in the day to earn income to acquire goods and services, for leisure time, or for sleep. At any point in time, there is only a finite amount of resources available.

經濟學研究人類如何在面對稀少性時做出決策。這些決策可以是個人決策、家庭決策、企業決策或社會決策。只要仔細觀察周遭，就會發現稀少性是生活中的事實。稀少性是指人類對財貨（goods）、服務（services）與資源（resources）的欲望超過可供使用的數量。生產我們想要的財貨與服務，需要勞動（labor）、工具、土地及原料等資源，但這些資源的供給有限。當然，最稀少的資源終究是時間，每個人無論貧富，每天都只有 24 小時可供支配，用來賺取收入以購買財貨與服務、休閒或睡眠。在任何時間點，可供使用的資源都只有有限的數量。

Think about it this way: In 2015 the labor force in the United States contained over 158 million workers, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The total land area was 3,794,101 square miles. While these are certainly large numbers, they are not infinite. Because these resources are limited, so are the numbers of goods and services we produce with them. Combine this with the fact that human wants seem to be virtually infinite, and you can see why scarcity is a problem.

可以這樣想：根據美國勞工統計局（U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics）的資料，2015 年美國的勞動力（labor force）包含超過 1 億 5,800 萬名勞工。土地總面積為 3,794,101 平方英里。這些數字固然龐大，卻不是無限的。由於這些資源有限，我們利用它們生產的財貨與服務數量也有限。再加上人類的欲望似乎幾乎無窮無盡，就能明白稀少性為何會成為問題。

If you still do not believe that scarcity is a problem, consider the following: Does everyone require food to eat? Does everyone need a decent place to live? Does everyone have access to healthcare? In every country in the world, there are people who are hungry, homeless (for example, those who call park benches their beds, as Figure 1.2 shows), and in need of healthcare, just to focus on a few critical goods and services. Why is this the case? It is because of scarcity. Let’s delve into the concept of scarcity a little deeper, because it is crucial to understanding economics. The Problem of Scarcity Think about all the things you consume: food, shelter, clothing, transportation, healthcare, and entertainment. How do you acquire those items? You do not produce them yourself. You buy them. How do you afford the things you buy? You work for pay. If you do not, someone else does on your behalf. Yet most of us never have enough income to buy all the things we want. This is because of scarcity. So how do we solve it?

如果你仍不認為稀少性是個問題，請想想以下幾個問題：每個人都需要食物吃嗎？每個人都需要一個像樣的住處嗎？每個人都能獲得醫療照護嗎？光看幾項重要的財貨與服務就會發現，世界各國都有人挨餓、無家可歸（例如圖 1.2 中以公園長椅為床的人），以及需要醫療照護。為何會如此？原因就在於稀少性。讓我們再深入探討稀少性的概念，因為這對理解經濟學至關重要。稀少性問題 想想你消費的所有事物：食物、住所、衣物、交通、醫療照護與娛樂。你如何取得這些東西？你並非自己生產。你花錢購買。你如何負擔購買這些東西的費用？你工作賺取報酬。如果你沒有工作，就有其他人替你賺取報酬。然而，我們大多數人的收入始終不足以買下所有想要的東西。這是因為稀少性。那麼，我們該如何解決這個問題？

Every society, at every level, must make choices about how to use its resources. Families must decide whether to spend their money on a new car or a fancy vacation. Towns must choose whether to put more of the budget into police and fire protection or into the school system. Nations must decide whether to devote more funds to national defense or to protecting the environment. In most cases, there just isn’t enough money in the budget to do everything. How do we use our limited resources the best way possible, that is, to obtain the most goods and services we can? There are a couple of options. First, we could each produce everything we each consume. Alternatively, we could each produce some of what we want to consume, and “trade” for the rest of what we want. Let’s explore these options. Why do we not each just produce all of the things we consume? Think back to pioneer days, when individuals knew how to do so much more than we do today, from building their homes, to growing their crops, to hunting for food, to repairing their equipment. Most of us do not know how to do all—or any—of those things, but it is not because we could not learn. Rather, we do not have to. The reason why is something called the division and specialization of labor, a production innovation first put forth by Adam Smith (Figure 1.3) in his book, The Wealth of Nations.

每個社會的各個層級，都必須選擇如何運用資源。家庭必須決定要把錢花在新車上，還是花在豪華假期上。城鎮必須選擇要將更多預算投入警政與消防，還是投入學校體系。國家必須決定要將更多經費投入國防，還是投入環境保護。多數情況下，預算裡的錢就是不夠做所有的事。我們該如何以最佳方式運用有限的資源，也就是取得盡可能多的財貨與服務？有幾種選擇。首先，我們每個人都可以自行生產自己消費的所有東西。或者，我們每個人可以生產一部分想要消費的東西，再透過「交易」取得其餘想要的東西。讓我們探討這些選擇。為什麼我們不各自生產自己消費的所有東西就好？回想拓荒時代，當時的人懂得做的事比今日的我們多得多，從建造房屋、種植作物、狩獵取得食物，到修理設備都會。我們大多數人並不懂得如何做所有這些事，甚至一件也不會，但這並不是因為我們學不會。而是因為我們不必學。原因在於所謂的勞動分工與專業化（specialization），這是一項生產上的創新，最早由 亞當·斯密（Adam Smith，圖 1.3）在其著作《國富論》（The Wealth of Nations）中提出。

The Division of and Specialization of Labor The formal study of economics began when Adam Smith (1723–1790) published his famous book The Wealth of Nations in 1776. Many authors had written on economics in the centuries before Smith, but he was the first to address the subject in a comprehensive way. In the first chapter, Smith introduces the concept of division of labor, which means that the way one produces a good or service is divided into a number of tasks that different workers perform, instead of all the tasks being done by the same person.

勞動分工與專業化 經濟學的正式研究始於 亞當·斯密（Adam 斯密，1723–1790）在 1776 年出版其名著《國富論》（The Wealth of Nations）。在 斯密 之前的幾個世紀，已有許多作者撰寫經濟學相關著作，但他是第一位全面探討這個主題的人。斯密 在第一章介紹分工的概念，意指將生產一項財貨或服務的過程分成若干工作，交由不同的勞工執行，而非由同一個人完成所有工作。

To illustrate division of labor, Smith counted how many tasks went into making a pin: drawing out a piece of wire, cutting it to the right length, straightening it, putting a head on one end and a point on the other, and packaging pins for sale, to name just a few. Smith counted 18 distinct tasks that different people performed—all for a pin, believe it or not!

為了說明分工，斯密 計算製作一根大頭針需要多少道工序：抽拉金屬線、裁切成適當長度、拉直、在一端裝上針頭並將另一端磨尖，以及將大頭針包裝出售，以上只是其中幾項。斯密 數出由不同的人執行的 18 道不同工序，信不信由你，這一切都是為了一根大頭針！

Modern businesses divide tasks as well. Even a relatively simple business like a restaurant divides the task of serving meals into a range of jobs like top chef, sous chefs, less-skilled kitchen help, servers to wait on the tables, a greeter at the door, janitors to clean up, and a business manager to handle paychecks and bills—not to mention the economic connections a restaurant has with suppliers of food, furniture, kitchen equipment, and the building where it is located. A complex business like a large manufacturing factory, such as the shoe factory (Figure 1.4), or a hospital can have hundreds of job classifications.

現代企業也會分工。即使是餐廳這類相對簡單的企業，也會將供餐工作分成多種職務，例如主廚、副主廚、技術要求較低的廚房助手、桌邊服務生、門口接待員、負責清潔的清潔人員，以及處理薪資支票和帳單的業務經理，更不用說餐廳與食材、家具、廚房設備及所在建物的供應者之間的經濟聯繫。大型製造工廠，例如製鞋廠（圖 1.4），或醫院這類複雜的企業，可能有數百種職務類別。

Why the Division of Labor Increases Production When we divide and subdivide the tasks involved with producing a good or service, workers and businesses can produce a greater quantity of output. In his observations of pin factories, Smith noticed that one worker alone might make 20 pins in a day, but that a small business of 10 workers (some of whom would need to complete two or three of the 18 tasks involved with pin-making), could make 48,000 pins in a day. How can a group of workers, each specializing in certain tasks, produce so much more than the same number of workers who try to produce the entire good or service by themselves? Smith offered three reasons.

分工為何能提高產量 當我們將生產一項財貨或服務所需的工作加以劃分、再細分時，勞工與企業就能生產更多產出（output）。斯密 觀察大頭針工廠時發現，一名勞工獨自工作，一天可能製作 20 根大頭針，但一家有 10 名勞工的小企業（其中有些人需要完成製作大頭針的 18 道工序中的兩道或三道），一天卻能製作 48,000 根大頭針。一群各自專精於特定工作的人，為何能比人數相同、卻各自嘗試獨力完成整項財貨或服務的人，生產多出這麼多的產出？斯密 提出了三個原因。

First, specialization in a particular small job allows workers to focus on the parts of the production process where they have an advantage. (In later chapters, we will develop this idea by discussing comparative advantage.) People have different skills, talents, and interests, so they will be better at some jobs than at others. The particular advantages may be based on educational choices, which are in turn shaped by interests and talents. Only those with medical degrees qualify to become doctors, for instance. For some goods, geography affects specialization. For example, it is easier to be a wheat farmer in North Dakota than in Florida, but easier to run a tourist hotel in Florida than in North Dakota. If you live in or near a big city, it is easier to attract enough customers to operate a successful dry cleaning business or movie theater than if you live in a sparsely populated rural area. Whatever the reason, if people specialize in the production of what they do best, they will be more effective than if they produce a combination of things, some of which they are good at and some of which they are not.

首先，專精於某項細小的工作，能讓勞工專注於生產過程（production process）中自己具有優勢的部分。（後續章節將透過討論比較利益（comparative advantage），進一步闡述這個觀念。）每個人的技能、才能與興趣不同，因此會比較擅長某些工作，而不擅長其他工作。特定的優勢可能來自教育上的選擇，而教育選擇又受到興趣與才能的影響。例如，只有取得醫學學位的人，才有資格成為醫師。對某些財貨而言，地理條件會影響專業化。例如，在北達科他州（North Dakota）當麥農比在佛羅里達州（Florida）容易，但在佛羅里達州經營觀光旅館則比在北達科他州容易。如果你住在大城市或其附近，相較於住在人口稀疏的鄉村地區，更容易吸引足夠的顧客，成功經營乾洗店或電影院。無論原因為何，如果人們專門生產自己最擅長的東西，就會比同時生產各種有些擅長、有些不擅長的東西更有效率。

Second, workers who specialize in certain tasks often learn to produce more quickly and with higher quality. This pattern holds true for many workers, including assembly line laborers who build cars, stylists who cut hair, and doctors who perform heart surgery. In fact, specialized workers often know their jobs well enough to suggest innovative ways to do their work faster and better.

其次，專精於特定工作的勞工，往往能學會以更快的速度與更高的品質生產。這種情形適用於許多勞工，包括在裝配線（assembly line）上製造汽車的工人、剪髮的髮型設計師，以及執行心臟手術的醫師。事實上，專業化的勞工往往對自己的工作十分熟悉，足以提出創新方法，讓工作做得更快、更好。

A similar pattern often operates within businesses. In many cases, a business that focuses on one or a few products (sometimes called its “core competency”) is more successful than firms that try to make a wide range of products.

企業內部也經常出現類似的情形。在許多情況下，專注於一項或少數幾項產品（有時稱為其「核心能力」（core competency））的企業，比試圖製造各式各樣產品的企業更成功。

Third, specialization allows businesses to take advantage of economies of scale, which means that for many goods, as the level of production increases, the average cost of producing each individual unit declines. For example, if a factory produces only 100 cars per year, each car will be quite expensive to make on average. However, if a factory produces 50,000 cars each year, then it can set up an assembly line with huge machines and workers performing specialized tasks, and the average cost of production per car will be lower. The ultimate result of workers who can focus on their preferences and talents, learn to do their specialized jobs better, and work in larger organizations is that society as a whole can produce and consume far more than if each person tried to produce all of his or her own goods and services. The division and specialization of labor has been a force against the problem of scarcity.

第三，專業化讓企業能夠利用規模經濟（economies of scale），意指對許多財貨而言，隨著產量增加，生產每單位產品的平均成本（average cost）會下降。例如，一家工廠如果每年只生產 100 輛汽車，平均而言，每輛汽車的製造成本就會相當高。然而，一家工廠如果每年生產 50,000 輛汽車，就能設置配備大型機器、由勞工執行專業化工作的裝配線，每輛汽車的平均生產成本也會較低。勞工能夠專注於自己的喜好與才能、學會把專業工作做得更好，並在較大的組織中工作，最終使整個社會能夠生產與消費的數量，遠多於每個人都嘗試自行生產所需全部財貨與服務的情況。勞動分工與專業化一直是對抗稀少性問題的一股力量。