平台严格禁止发布违法/不实/欺诈等垃圾信息，一经发现将永久封禁帐号，针对违法信息将保留相关证据配合公安机关调查！
2010-5-30 09:11
Dear Economist:
Now that we have completed our family, my wife wants me to have a vasectomy, strongly hinting that she will withdraw all sexual favours unless I comply. For a long time now, the amount of sex we have been having (about once a month) has been less than I would like (a couple of times a week). While I am not an economist, I have read that positive incentives are important. Wouldn't my wife have more chance of persuading me to have the snip if she promised me more frequent sex rather than threatening to withdraw it altogether? Dave, London Dear Dave, In traditional economics there is no important motivational difference between stick and carrot, and so I can hardly accuse your wife of bad economics in that respect. But, even if your proposal is accepted, you face a serious problem. Your vasectomy is a one-off operation, for which you seek an ongoing future incentive. How can you be sure that your wife will stick to the deal? Economists call this the “hold up problem”. You are hoping for an extra 90 bouts of intimacy per year. Since I give your marriage five more years, tops, this adds up to an extra 450 sexual encounters in total. But there is no guarantee that, after you have your operation, you will experience any of them. The obvious answer is a performance bond. Your wife could deposit, say, £45,000 with a lawyer. Whenever the two of you contact the lawyer to confirm that intercourse has occurred, he will release £100 to your wife. Perhaps that seems unromantic, so I have a better idea – simply secure payment in kind upfront. If the two of you get busy, you should get through 450 lovemaking sessions within a year, perhaps sooner. You might even find you enjoy it so much that this troubled marriage perks up. I suggest you get started at once. 亲爱的经济学家：
既然我们已经完成了传宗接代的任务，我太太希望我去做输精管结扎手术，并强烈暗示我，除非我照办，否则她将取消所有的性生活。长期以来，我们做爱的频率（大约一个月一次）一直低于我的需求（一周两次）。尽管我不是经济学家，但我读到过，正面激励相当重要。假如我太太承诺给我更多的性爱，而不是威胁说要彻底取消的话，那么她说服我去挨那一刀的胜算不是会更大吗？ 戴夫(Dave)，伦敦 亲爱的戴夫， 在传统经济学中，大棒和胡萝卜在动机方面并不存在很大差异，因此，就这一点而言，我很难批评你太太的经济学很糟糕。 不过，即便你的提议被接受了，你也会面临一个严重的问题。输精管结扎手术只是一个一次性手术，而你却希望得到一个未来不断持续的激励。你怎么能肯定你太太会遵守协议？经济学家们称之为“套牢问题”(hold up problem)。 你希望每年能多享受90次性爱。假定我给你们的婚姻再加上5年（这是最好的情况了），那么这总共要多出450次性行为。但你却无法保证在做完手术后，会享受到其中哪怕一次。 显而易见的解决办法是签订一份履约保函。你太太可以在律师那里存放——比如——4.5万英镑。只要你们俩通知律师，证实发生了一次性关系，他就会退还给你太太100英镑。 或许这看上去平淡无奇，因此我有一个更好的主意——就是预先以实物付款。如果你们俩勤快点儿，你们应可以在一年内做爱450次，可能还会更快些。你甚至可能发现自己是如此地乐在其中，你那陷入危机的婚姻也会变得柳暗花明。我建议你马上开始行动！ 译者/何黎 |