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1、21.AMATTEROFINCENTIVESEconomics,whenyoustripawaytheguffandthemathematicalsophistry,islargelyaboutincentives.Communismcollapsedbecauseitfailedtoencourageinnovation,enterprise,andhardwork;capitalismhasthrived,broadlyspeaking,becauseitrewardedthesethings,whilepunishingconserv
2、atismanddawdling.Themarketsystemisheartlessandunforgiving,but,asevenMarxandEngelspointedout,itisuniquelyproductive.Duringitsshortexistence,theGermanleftistsnotedin1848,ithad“accomplishedwondersfarsurpassingEgyptianpyramids,Romanaqueducts,andGothiccathedrals:ithasconductede
3、xpeditionsthatputintheshadeallformerexodusesofnationsandcrusades.”Inthe1970s,theresurrectionoffreemarketeconomicswasbasedlargelyontheargumentthathightaxesandexcessiveregulationwerestiflingtheeconomy.“Bytaxation,byinflation,bytheremorselessfloodofregulationsandlegislation,b
4、ycontrolsandbytheconstantandarbitraryinterventionsofauthority,successivegovernmentssincethewarhavecumulativelytakenawayboththepleasureandtherewardsthatoncemaderisk-takingworthwhile,”SirKeithJoseph,theprimaryintellectualarchitectofThatcherism,saidin1976.“Bythisattitudewehav
5、edrivenoutsomewealth-creators;discouragedothers;shrivelledtheimpulsetoexpandandthrottledenterprise.”MargaretThatcherandRonaldReaganbothgotelectedonpromisestorestoreincentivestoworkandinvest.Theywereviewedaseconomicradicals,butmuchofwhattheysaidwascommonsense.Beyondacertain
6、level—whatitiscanbedebated—taxesdiscourageeffortandencourageevasion.Excessiveregulations,suchastheonesthatusedtogoverntheairlineindustry,stiflecompetitionandpreservehighprices.Inseekingtorestoremarketincentivestosomepartsoftheeconomy,theoriginalderegulators—themostimportan
7、tofwhom,AlfredE.Kahn,wasaliberalDemocratappointedbyJimmyCarter—hadeconomiclogicontheirside:well-meaninggovernmentinterventionscanprovecounterproductive.Butasoftenhappensduringrevolutions,thesecond-andthird-generationinsurgentswenttoofar,forgetting,orignoring,theequallywell
8、establishedtruththatmarkets,too,cancreatedamagingincentives.InFebruary2005,AlanGreenspanv
