《货币与信用理论》学习指南第二编第七章

第二编 货币的价值

第七章 货币价值的概念

摘要

The main task of economic theory is to explain money’s objective exchange value, or what is often called the purchasing power of money. This refers to the amount of goods that someone can obtain in the marketplace with a unit of money. This explanation in turn ultimately goes back to subjective valuations.
经济理论的主要任务是解释货币的客观交换价值，或通常所说的货币购买力。这是指某人可以在市场上以单位货币获得的商品数量。这种解释最终可以追溯到主观估值。

What sets money apart from all other goods is that money is useful (and hence valuable) to people only because of its purchasing power. In its capacity as a medium of exchange, a unit of money is only useful inasmuch as it can be used to acquire other goods and services.
将货币与其它所有商品区别开来的是，货币的用途（和由此而存在的价值）仅仅来自它的购买力。在货币单位作为交换媒介的能力中，只有当货币可以用来获得其它商品和服务时，它才是有用的。

When we say a particular good has objective exchange value, the term “objective” is not used to mean that this value inherently resides in the object. All market prices are ultimately determined by subjective human preferences, and therefore are subject to change whenever people’s valuations change. A typical good’s “objective” exchange value is still determined by the subjective use-values of the end user. (For example, a car manufacturer will produce cars based not on his personal whims, but on how much he can charge for them in the market. Yet these prices themselves are due to how much his customers enjoy driving the various vehicles.)
当我们说特定商品具有客观交换价值时，术语“客观”并不意味着这种价值本身就存在于该商品中。所有的市场价格最终都是由个人的主观偏好决定的，因此只要人们的估价发生变化，市场价格就会发生变化。典型商品的“客观”交换价值仍然由最终用户的主观使用价值决定。（例如，汽车制造商生产汽车不是基于他的个人喜好，而是基于他在市场上售出汽车能收取多少费用。而这些价格本身取决于他的客户有多么喜欢驾驶各种车辆。）

The one essential difference with money is that it has no subjective use-value, which could ultimately explain its objective exchange value. Its only value—qua money—derives from its ability to exchange for other goods in the market. This is why applying modern subjective value theory to the explanation of objective money prices is such a tricky affair. Those economists of Mises’s day who tried to explain the purchasing power of money based solely on its industrial applications, were completely evading the issue. In particular, they would be helpless to explain the purchasing power of fiat money.
货币与普通商品的一个本质区别是它没有主观的使用价值可最终用于解释其客观交换价值。货币的唯一价值来源于它在市场上交换其它商品的能力。这就是为什么运用现代主观价值理论来解释客观货币价格是一件如此棘手的事情。那些试图仅仅根据货币的工业用途来解释货币购买力的，与米塞斯同时代的经济学家们，完全回避了这个问题。特别是，他们无法解释法定货币的购买力。

章节大纲

一、货币价值理论中的主观和客观因素

When it comes to money, the main task of economic theory is to explain its objective exchange value, or what is often called the purchasing power of money. This refers to the amount of goods that someone can obtain in the marketplace with a unit of money. This is an objective fact: if Tom sees that a dollar bill can purchase three postage stamps, then Bill will observe the same purchasing power as well.
在货币问题上，经济理论的主要任务是解释货币的客观交换价值，即通常所说的货币购买力。这指的是某人可以在市场上以一个单位货币获取的商品数量。这是一个客观事实：如果汤姆观察到一美元的钞票可以买三张邮票，那么比尔也会观察到相同的购买力。

Even though economics focuses on the explanation of money’s objective exchange value, the explanation itself ultimately goes back to subjective valuations. For the economist grounded in the modern subjective value theory (developed by Carl Menger and his followers), all prices in the market must be explained by reference to individuals’ subjective valuations. This rule holds even for money.
尽管经济学关注的是对货币的客观交换价值的解释，但解释本身最终可以追溯到主观估值。对于以（卡尔·门格尔及其追随者发展的）现代主观价值理论为基础的经济学家，市场上的所有价格必须通过参照个人的主观估值来解释。这条规则同样适用于货币。

What sets money apart from all other goods is that money is useful (and hence valuable) to people only because of its purchasing power. In its capacity as a medium of exchange, a unit of money is only useful inasmuch as it can be used to acquire other goods and services.
将货币与其它所有商品区别开来的是，货币的用途（和由此而存在的价值）仅仅来自它的购买力。在货币单位作为交换媒介的能力中，只有当货币可以用来获得其它商品和服务时，它才是有用的。

When it comes to explaining the price of, say, an original painting by Picasso, the economist starts with the fact that some people place a very high subjective value on holding such artwork. The economist has no obligation to explain why people enjoy the mere possession of a canvas covered in paint; he or she takes this preference as a given, and proceeds to explain the exchange value of the Picasso in the marketplace. Yet when it comes to money, the economist can’t explain its “price” (i.e., purchasing power) merely by saying that people enjoy acquiring and holding cash balances. Such an argument—by itself—would be circular, because the reason people want to hold cash balances is that money has purchasing power. That is why explaining the “price” of money is a much subtler task than explaining the price of a Picasso.
当解释毕加索原画的价格时，经济学家首先要考虑到有些人对收藏这样的艺术品有很高的主观估值。经济学家没有义务解释为什么人们享受纯粹拥有一幅被油漆覆盖的画布；他或她将这种偏好视为给定的，并继续解释毕加索的作品在市场上的交换价值。然而，当谈到货币时，经济学家不能仅仅通过说人们喜欢获得和持有现金余额来解释货币的“价格”（即购买力）。这种论证本身就是循环论证，因为人们想要持有现金余额的原因是货币具有购买力。这就是为什么解释货币的“价格”比解释毕加索作品的价格要微妙得多。

二、货币的客观交换价值

The objective exchange value of goods can be defined as “their objective significance in exchange” or “their capacity in given circumstances to procure a specific quantity of other goods as an equivalent in exchange.” Nowadays we might use the term market value to express the same concept as objective exchange value.
货物的客观交换价值可以定义为“它们在交换中的客观重要性”，也可以定义为“商品在特定情况下作为交换等价物获取特定数量其他商品的能力”。现在我们可以使用“市场价值”一词来表达与客观交换价值相同的概念。

When we say a particular good has objective exchange value, the term “objective” is not used to mean that this value inherently resides in the object. (In other words, we are not using the term the same way that a good might have an objective weight or color.) All market prices are ultimately determined by subjective human preferences, and therefore are subject to change whenever people’s valuations change. But a good’s market value is still “objective” in the sense that any individual can take it as a given fact.
当我们说特定商品具有客观交换价值时，术语“客观”并不意味着这种价值本身就存在于该商品中。（换言之，这里的“客观”，与“商品具有客观的重量或颜色”这种用法不同。）所有的市场价格最终都是由个人的主观偏好决定的，因此只要人们的估价发生变化，市场价格就会发生变化。但商品的市场价值仍然是“客观的”，在这个意义上，任何个人都可以将其视为一个给定的事实。

The objective exchange value of money refers to the possibility of obtaining a certain quantity of other goods in exchange for the money, while the price of money is this actual quantity of other goods. (The terms are not identical, but are very similar, as Mises explains on page 101.)
货币的客观交换价值是指用货币换取一定数量的其它商品的可能性，而货币的价格是指其它商品的实际数量。（正如米塞斯在英文版第101页解释的那样，这些术语并不相同，但非常相似。）

三、货币价值理论中的问题

In modern economies, producers as a rule evaluate their output on the basis of subjective exchange value, rather than subjective use-value. For example, the owner of an automobile factory doesn’t order his employees to produce cars that he himself wants to drive. On the contrary, he instructs his employees to make cars that he plans on selling to others, based on what his customers want to drive. When formulating his business plans, then, he is guided by his personal, subjective valuations of the other goods he will be able to buy (houses, fancy meals, yachts, etc.) with the revenues from the sale of his cars.
在现代经济中，生产者通常根据主观交换价值而不是主观使用价值来评估其产出。例如，一家汽车厂的老板不会命令他的员工生产他自己想驾驶的汽车。相反，他指示他的员工根据客户的需求生产他计划出售给他人的汽车。在制定商业计划时，他会以自己对（房屋、高档餐饮、游艇等）其它商品的个人主观估价以及他的汽车销售收入为指导。

In order for the owner of the automobile factory (and other producers) to accurately envision the tradeoffs of different production decisions, he needs to know the objective exchange value of the various cars he could manufacture. It’s not enough that the car producer knows that he values yachts and steak dinners; he also needs to know how much money he can raise by selling different models of his cars, and how much money he will need to spend if he wants to acquire yachts and steak dinners. Thus most production decisions involve a complex interdependence on both subjective and objective valuations.
为了使汽车厂的所有者（和其他生产商）准确地设想不同生产决策之间的权衡，他需要知道他可以生产的各种汽车的客观交换价值。汽车生产商知道他喜欢游艇和牛排晚餐是不够的；他还需要知道他可以通过销售不同型号的汽车赚到多少钱，以及如果想要购买游艇和牛排晚餐，他需要花多少钱。因此，大多数生产决策涉及主观和客观估值的复杂相互依赖性。

The one essential difference with money is that it has no subjective use-value, which could ultimately explain its objective exchange value. In contrast, when it comes to the automobiles, yachts, and steak dinners, the economist ultimately could explain their relative exchange values (i.e., how many automobiles would trade for one yacht, etc.) by reference to individuals’ subjective use-values from them (i.e., how much people liked driving cars, versus piloting yachts or eating steak).
货币与普通商品的一个本质区别在于，它没有主观使用价值来最终解释其客观交换价值。相比之下，当谈到汽车，游艇和牛排晚餐时，经济学家最终可以通过参考它们对于个人的主观使用价值（即，有多少人喜欢驾驶汽车，而不是驾驶游艇或吃牛排）来解释他们的相对交换价值（即，一艘游艇可以换取多少辆汽车等）。

But with money, its only value—qua money—derives from its ability to exchange for other goods in the market. This is why applying modern subjective value theory to the explanation of objective money prices is such a tricky affair. Those economists of Mises’s day who tried to explain the purchasing power of money based solely on its industrial applications, were completely evading the issue. In particular, they would be helpless to explain the purchasing power of fiat money.
但对于货币来说，它唯一的价值来源于它在市场上交换其它商品的能力。这就是为什么运用现代主观价值理论来解释客观货币价格是一件如此棘手的事情。那些试图仅仅根据货币的工业用途来解释货币购买力的，与米塞斯同时代的经济学家们，完全回避了这个问题。特别是，他们无法解释法定货币的购买力。

技术说明

• In the beginning of this chapter, Mises spends time placing his analysis of money within the framework of subjective value theory, as it had been developed by his Austrian predecessors (notably Menger, Böhm-Bawerk, and Wieser). Some of the terminology may appear quaint to modern economists, even those who have studied Austrian economics. But to properly explain the process by which subjective individual valuations generate objective market prices, it is necessary to distinguish between use-value and exchange value, and these concepts in turn both come with a subjective and an objective dimension. For example, the objective use-value of a pig would include the collection of bacon strips it could physically yield, while the objective use-value of a tomato seed would include the tomatoes it could physically yield. These would be empirical facts, not subject to opinion. However, a vegetarian would probably assign a lower subjective use-value to the pig than to the tomato seed, while a meat-lover might do the opposite. On the other hand, both the vegetarian and the meat-lover would agree that the objective exchange value of the pig is much higher than that of the tomato seed. For example, it would be an indisputable fact that the pig could fetch more grams of gold (or dollar bills) than the tomato seed, if both were put up for sale.

• 在本章的开头，米塞斯花费时间将他的货币分析置于主观价值理论的框架内，正如他的奥地利学派前辈们（尤其是门格尔，庞巴维克和维塞尔）对主观价值理论的发展那样。现代经济学家，甚至那些研究过奥派经济学的经济学家，可能会觉得其中一些术语有些古怪。但是，为了正确解释主观个人估值产生客观市场价格的过程，有必要区分使用价值和交换价值，而这些概念又具有主观和客观两个维度。例如，一头猪的客观使用价值将包括它可以实际产出的培根条的产量，而番茄种子的客观使用价值将包括它可以实际产出的番茄。这些都是经验事实，不受观念影响。然而，素食主义者可能会将较低的主观使用价值赋予猪而不是番茄种子，而肉食爱好者可能会做相反的事。另一方面，素食主义者和肉食爱好者都同意猪的客观交换价值远远高于番茄种子。例如，如果两者都被出售，那么猪可以换得比番茄种子更多的黄金（或美元钞票），这是无可争辩的事实。

• Applying these concepts to money, Mises explains (pp. 97–98) that there are two acceptable ways of making an important point. One way is to claim that money’s subjective use-value is the same as its subjective exchange- value. (That is, the significance that a particular individual attributes to a quantity of money, must be the same significance that he or she attributes to the goods for which the money can be exchanged, because the money can’t be used to satisfy wants directly.) A different way to make the point is to say that money has no use-value at all, because any value it possesses necessarily derives from its exchange value. Mises doesn’t take a position on which of these alternate descriptions is better; he merely wants to stress the fundamental point that people consider money useful and valuable only because they expect to use it to acquire other goods. (Of course Mises is talking about money qua money. A bar of gold, for example, can still possess use-value for its industrial or ornamental applications.)

• 将这些概念应用于货币，米塞斯解释说（英文版第97-98页），有两种抓住了重点的可接受的方法。一种方法是声称货币的主观使用价值与其主观交换价值相同。（也就是说，特定的个人对一定数量货币的重要性判定，必须与同样数量货币可以换取的商品的重要性判定相同，因为货币不能直接用来满足需求。）另一种解释这一点的方法是说货币根本没有使用价值，因为它所拥有的任何价值都必然来自于它的交换价值。米塞斯并没有表明他认为这些替代描述中的哪一个更好；他只是想强调一个基本观点，即人们之所以认为货币是有用的和有价值的，只是因为他们希望用货币来获取其它商品。（当然，米塞斯讨论的是货币用途下的货币。例如，一根金条可以在工业或装饰上仍然具有使用价值。）

新术语

Exchange value: The significance of a good due to its ability to be traded for other goods. (Exchange value can be qualified as either subjective or objective.)
交换价值：商品的重要性，归因于其具有交易其它商品的能力。（交换价值可以被认定为主观或客观。）

Market value: Synonymous with the objective exchange value of a good, typically quoted in money terms.
市场价值：商品客观交换价值的同义词，通常以货币形式表示。

Objective exchange value of money: The possibility of obtaining a certain quantity of other goods in exchange for a unit of money.
货币的客观交换价值：以一单位货币换取一定数量其它商品的可能性。

Price of money: The quantity of goods (or services) that must be given up in exchange to acquire a unit of money.
货币价格：为获得一单位货币而必须放弃的商品（或服务）的数量。

Use-value: The significance of a good due to its ability to be directly used by the owner in consumption or production. (Use-value can be qualified as either subjective or objective.)
使用价值：一种商品因其能够被所有者直接用于消费或生产而具有的重要性。（使用价值可以被认定为主观或客观。）

研究问题

1. What is the central element in the economic problem of money? (p. 97)
   货币经济问题的核心因素是什么？ （英文版第97页）

2. Does the subjective theory of value apply to the case of money, as to all other goods? (p. 97)
   主观价值理论是否就像适用于所有其它商品一样，也适用于货币？（英文版第97页）

3. Explain: “In the case of money, subjective use-value and subjective exchange value coincide.” (p. 97)
   解释：“对于货币来说，主观使用价值和主观交换价值是一致的。”（英文版第97页）

4. Explain: “It should be observed that even objective exchange value is not really a property of the goods themselves, bestowed on them by nature. . . .” (p. 100)
   解释：“应该注意的是，即使是客观交换价值，也不是商品本身的一种属性，而是自然赋予它们的。…（英文版第100页）

5. If money (e.g., gold) has an industrial use as well as a monetary use, what will be the relation between its objective exchange values in those two different applications? (pp. 104–05)
   如果货币（如黄金）既有工业用途又有货币用途，那么在这两种不同的用途中，其客观交换价值之间的关系是什么？（英文版第104-105页）