经济术语了解.docVIP

11. menu cost 菜单成本 How much it costs to change PRICES. Just as a restaurant has to print a new menu when it changes the price of its food, so many other FIRMS face a substantial outlay each time they cut or raise what they charge. Such menu costs mean that firms may be reluctant to change their prices every time there is a shift in the balance of SUPPLY and DEMAND, so there will be STICKY PRICES and the market for their OUTPUT will be in DISEQUILIBRIUM. The Internet may sharply reduce menu costs as it allows prices to be changed at the click of a mouse, which may improve EFFICIENCY by keeping markets more often in EQUILIBRIUM. 菜单成本是凯恩斯经济学派的基础概念，他们很多政策建议，都从这个概念引申而来。菜单成本是指：餐厅的菜单得花钱印刷，印好了就不会天天换。尽管就餐人数每天都有波动，客人点菜的价位也丰俭有别。但每天更换菜单成本太高,需要重新印刷它的产品价格表,想客户通报改变价格的信息和理由；所有这一切都会引起一笔开支和费用.虽然菜单成本的数值并不大,但是,如果菜单价目表变动的次数很多,那也会给餐厅带来一些不利之处,如使顾客感觉不快和麻烦等。 　　大多数企业并不每天改变他们产品的价格。相反，企业往往宣布价格，并使价格在几周、几个月，甚至几年内不变。一种研究发现，大多数企业大约一年改变一次自己产品的价格。 　　企业不经常改变价格是因为改变价格有成本。调整价格的成本被称为菜单成本，这个词来自餐馆印刷新菜单的成本。菜单成本包括印刷新清单和目录的成本、把这些新价格表和目录送给中间商和顾客的成本、为新价格做广告的成本、决定新价格的成本，甚至还包括处理顾客对价格变动怨言的成本。 　　通货膨胀增加了企业必须承担的菜单成本。在当前美国经济中，由于通货膨胀率低，一年调整一次价格是许多企业合适的经营战略。但是，当高通货膨胀使企业成本迅速增加时，一年调整一次价格就是不现实的。例如，在超速通货膨胀期间，企业必须每天变动价格，或者更经常地变动价格，以便与经济中所有其他物价保持一致。 　　生活中类似的例子俯拾皆是：医院的医药费是不常变化的，公共汽车和地铁的票价是长期稳定的，到超市里看看，不少商品，尤其是耐用品的标价非常稳定，几个月甚至一两年都没有变化。 12. middle income trap 中等收入陷阱 The concept behind the “middle-income trap” is quite simple: Its easier to rise from a low-income to a middle-income economy than it is to jump from a middle-income to a high-income economy. Thats because when youre really poor, you can use your poverty to your advantage. Cheap wages make a low-income economy competitive in labor-intensive manufacturing apparel, shoes and toys, for example . Factories sprout up, creating jobs and increasing incomes. Every rapid-growth economy in Asia jumpstarted its famed gains in human welfare in this way, including Malaysia. However, that growth model eventually runs out of steam. As incomes increase, so do costs, undermining