宏觀VS微觀經濟學：小白也能看懂的科普文

If you want to study economics, these two concepts may be the very first things you need to understand.

如果你想學習經濟學，那麼這兩個概念可能是你必須要了解的。

Microeconomics and macroeconomics are two of the largest subdivisions of the study of economics wherein micro- refers to the observation of small economic units like the effects of government regulations on individual markets and consumer decision making and macro- refers to the "big picture" version of economics like how interest rates are determines and why some countries' economies grow faster than others'.

微觀經濟學和宏觀經濟學是經濟學研究中最大的兩個分支，其中微觀指的是對小經濟單位的研究，比如政府調控對個人市場和消費者決策的影響，宏觀則指的是經濟學的“大局”版本，比如利率是如何決定的，以及爲什麼一些國家的經濟增長速度比其他國家快。

According to comedian P.J. O’Rourke, “microeconomics concerns things that e conomists are specifically wrong about, while macroeconomics concerns things e conomists are wrong about generally. Or to be more technical, microeconomics is about money you don’t have, and macroeconomics is about money the government is out of.”

喜劇演員歐魯克說，“微觀經濟學關注的是經濟學家的特殊錯誤，而宏觀經濟學則是關注經濟學家的普遍錯誤。或者更具體地說，微觀經濟學是關於你沒有的錢，宏觀經濟學是關於政府沒有的錢。"

Although this humorous observation pokes fun at e conomists, the description is accurate. However, a closer observation of both fields of economic discourse will provide a better understanding of the basics of economic theory and study.

雖然這個幽默的評論嘲笑了經濟學家，但是這種描述是準確的。不管怎麼說，更仔細地觀察這兩個領域的經濟語篇，將有助於更好地理解經濟學理論和研究的基礎知識。

Microeconomics: Individual Markets

微觀經濟學：個體市場

Those who have studied Latin know that the prefix “micro-” means “small,” so it shouldn’t be surprising that microeconomics is the study of small economic units. The field of microeconomics is concerned with things like:

學過拉丁語的人都知道前綴“micro -”意味着“small(小)”，所以微觀經濟學是對小型經濟單位的研究也就不足爲奇了。微觀經濟學領域關注的事情包括：

consumer decision making and utility maximization

消費者決策與效用最大化

firm production and profit maximization

企業生產與利潤最大化

individual market equilibrium

個體市場均衡

effects of government regulation on individual markets

政府調控對個體市場的影響

externalities and other market side effects

外部性與其他市場副作用

Put another way, microeconomics concerns itself with the behavior of individual markets, such as the markets for oranges, the market for cable television, or the market for skilled workers as opposed to the overall markets for produce, electronics, or the entire workforce. Microeconomics is essential for local governance, business and personal financing, specific stock investment research, and individual market predictions for venture capitalistic endeavors.

換句話說，微觀經濟學關注的是個別市場的行爲，例如橘子市場、有線電視市場或技術工人市場，而不是生產、電子產品或整個勞動力的整體市場。微觀經濟學對於地方治理、商業和個人理財、特定股票投資研究以及個人市場對風險資本的預期都至關重要。

Macroeconomics: The Big Picture

宏觀經濟學：大局

Macroeconomics, on the other hand, can be thought of as the “big picture” version of economics. Rather than analyzing individual markets, macroeconomics focuses on aggregate production and consumption in an economy. Some topics that macroe conomists study include:

另一方面，宏觀經濟學可以被認爲是經濟學的“大局”版本。宏觀經濟學不是分析單個市場，而是關注一個經濟體的總生產和總消費。宏觀經濟學家研究的一些內容包括：

effects of general taxes such as income and sales taxes on output and prices

所得稅、營業稅等一般稅對產量和價格的影響

causes of economic upswings and downturns

經濟上升和衰退的原因

effects of monetary and fiscal policy on economic health

貨幣和財政政策對經濟健康的影響

effects of and process for determining interest rates

決定利率的影響和過程

causes for some economies growing faster than other economies

一些經濟體增長速度超過其他經濟體的原因

To study economics at this level, researchers must be able to combine different goods and services produced in a way that reflects their relative contributions to aggregate output. This is generally done using the concept of the gross domestic product (GDP), and goods and services get weighted by their market prices.

要在這個層面上研究經濟學，研究人員必須能夠將不同的商品和服務結合起來，以反映它們對總產出的相對貢獻。這通常是利用國內生產總值(GDP)的概念來實現的，商品和服務由其市場價格加權。

The Relationship Between Microeconomics and Macroeconomics

微觀經濟學與宏觀經濟學的關係

There is an obvious relationship between microeconomics and macroeconomics in that aggregate production and consumption levels are the result of choices made by individual households and firms, and some macroeconomic models explicitly make this connection by incorporating what are known as "microfoundations."

微觀經濟學與宏觀經濟學之間存在明顯的聯繫，因爲總體生產和消費水平是個體家庭和企業做出選擇的結果，而一些宏觀經濟模型通過納入所謂的“微觀基礎”明確地建立了這種聯繫。

Most of the economic topics covered on television and in newspapers are of the macroeconomic variety, but it’s important to remember that economics is about more than just trying to figure out when the economy is going to improve and what the Fed is doing with interest rates, it's also about observing local economies and specific markets for goods and services.

電視和報紙上涵蓋的大部分經濟主題都是關於宏觀經濟的多樣性，但重要的是要記住經濟學不僅僅是試着弄清楚經濟何時會改善以及美聯儲在利率方面做了什麼，它還涉及觀察當地經濟和特定市場的商品和服務。

Although many e conomists specialize in one field or the other, no matter which study one pursues, the other will have to be utilized in order to understand the implications of certain trends and conditions on both the micro and macro economic levels.

儘管許多經濟學家專注於研究其中一個領域，但不論從事哪個研究，都必須利用另一個領域，以便理解某些趨勢和條件對微觀和宏觀經濟水平的影響。

（翻譯：雅蘭）