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第一编 主旨
第1章 关于这堂课

（接前面部分）
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It is often sadly remarked that the bad economists present their errors to the public better than the good economists present their truths. It is often complained that demagogues can be more plausible in putting forward economic nonsense from the platform than the honest men who try to show what is wrong with it. But the basic reason for this ought not to be mysterious. The reason is that the demagogues and bad economists are presenting half-truths. They are speaking only of the immediate effect of a proposed policy or its effect upon a single group. As far as they go they may often be right. In these cases the answer consists in showing that the proposed policy would also have longer and less desirable effects, or that it could benefit one group only at the expense of all other groups. The answer consists in supplementing and correcting the half-truth with the other half. But to consider all the chief effects of a proposed course on everybody often requires a long, complicated, and dull chain of reasoning. Most of the audience finds this chain of reasoning difficult to follow and soon becomes bored and inattentive. The bad economists rationalize this intellectual debility and laziness by assuring the audience that it need not even attempt to follow the reasoning or judge it on its merits because it is only “classicism” or “laissez faire” or “capitalist apologetics” or whatever other term of abuse may happen to strike them as effective.

常有人感叹说，坏经济学家向大众兜售谬论，往往比好经济学家宣扬真理更动听。常有人抱怨说，蛊惑人心者鼓吹经济谬论时，总是比那些点出问题要害的诚实的人更能获得大众的欢呼喝彩。这其中并没有什么奥妙：煽动家和坏经济学家，都只强调了一半的真相。他们只谈某项政策提案的即时影响，或者只谈其对某个特殊群体的影响。仅就他们所关注的东西而论，也往往是言之成理。在这种情况下，我们只需要站出来，指出政策提案也会带来长远的不良影响，或者指明这是牺牲其他一切群体的利益去满足某个特殊群体。也就是说，我们必须用另一半的事实，来补足和矫正他们所强调的半边真相。不过，要想阐明某一方案对于每个人的全部主要影响，往往需要进行冗长、复杂而无趣的推理。大多数听众总是怕听长篇大论，很快就会厌烦和不专心。坏经济学家利用了听众理性上的懒惰与低能，指出这些答案只不过是“古典主义”、“自由放任主义”、“资本主义 的辩护术”、甚至其它认为有效的攻击污蔑之词，使听众相信根本没有必要去进行那样的推导与综合判断是非优劣。

We have stated the nature of the lesson, and of the fallacies that stand in its way, in abstract terms. But the lesson will not be driven home, and the fallacies will continue to go unrecognized, unless both are illustrated by examples. Through these examples we can move from the most elementary problems in economics to the most complex and difficult. Through them we can learn to detect and avoid first the crudest and most palpable fallacies and finally some of the most sophisticated and elusive. To that task we shall now proceed.

以上，我们用抽象的语言陈述了这一课的本质，及其所针对的谬误的性质。但是，如果我们不给出一些实例，并加以说明，读者将不能很好地理解这一课的真正含义，公众也将继续被那些盛行谬误所蒙蔽。我们会利用经济生活中的实例，从经济学中最基本的问题讲起，一直讲到最复杂最艰深的问题。我们会借助这些例证，先学会如何察觉和避开那些最粗浅最明显的谬误，直至学会发现和避开那些最复杂最难以捉摸的谬误。这些正是接下来要讲的内容。

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