英文“经济”的词源

英语中的economy出现于十五世纪后期，来自法语的économie，含义是管理物质资源。在十八世纪的经济学书籍中我们可以看到Oeconomy，而不是Economy，前者是后者的古时拼法。该字源自古希腊语中的 οἰκονομία，即“家务管理”，由 οἶκος 与 νόμος两字组合而成的，前者是指“房屋”，而后者则是指“习惯”或“法律”，因此economy的原意就是管理家务的规则。到了十七世纪，传统上为家庭提供的所需之物慢慢扩展至为一国提供所需之物，到了十八世纪便出现了political economics。

从现代意义上来看，economy在英文中是指一国或地区的财富和资源，主要是指商品和服务的生产和消费。与economy相关的字是economic，economics和economical。Economic是economy的形容词，指“与经济有关的”。Economics是指与商品、服务、生产和消费相关的知识和学问。Economical一字的含义与则有所不同，它是指最有效利用金钱、时间或精力。这个意义上的economical在中文中也越来越多地被“经济”或“经济地”来表示，其含义是以尽可能少的支出获得所希望达到的目的方法。这样的用法其实与财富的生产和分配已不再有什么关系了，而是指“节约的”或“节俭的”了。

中文经济的词源

中文“经济”的传统意义是经世济民、治国平天下的意思。《晋书·殷浩传》“足下沈识淹长，思综通练，起而明之，足以经济”；《晋书·纪瞻》“皆有经济之道而位不逢”；《宋史·王安石传》“以文章节行高一世，而尤以道德经济为己任”；《五代史平话·周史》“吾负经济之才，为庸人谋事，一死固自甘心”；杜甫《上水遣怀》“古来经济才，何事独罕有”等中的“经济”均指经世济民和治国平天下。十九世纪，日本学者借用“经济”翻译英文的economy，法文的économie和德文的ökonomie，其所表达的意思与西文中的基本一致且随着西文含义的变化而变化。现代汉语中的“经济”一词是引入日本翻译西文所用汉字的结果，其含义不再包含古汉语中经世济民、治国平天下的意思了。现代意义上中文的“经济”一词也有比较丰富的含义。《中国大百科全书》把作为economy对应词的“经济”解释为通常有经济关系、国民经济的部门或总体、经济活动、经济水平、经济效益等含义的词。[1] “经济”还可用作指耗费较少而获益较大，例如朱自清的《历史在战斗中》的“著者是个诗人，能够经济他的语言，所以差不多每句话都有分量。”或者指财力和物力，例如鲁迅的《书信集·致何白涛》中的“《中国木刻选》要开始付印了，共二十四幅，因经济关系，只能印百二十本。”

经济学的概念

经济学 (economics) 已经是一个几乎人人皆知的词，随都知道这是一门与经济有关的学问，但要准确定义经济学却非易事，跟何况经济学并非始终一成不变。

满足家庭需要

在十八世纪中后叶，“经济学”或“政治经济学”还不是一个得到很多人使用的概念。英国经济学家詹姆斯·斯图亚特 (James Steuart)[2] 可能是第一个在书名中使用“政治经济学”的经济学家。他在1767年出版的著作的名称便是：An Inquiry into the Principles of Political Oeconomy。在该书中，斯图亚特把经济描述为满足家庭需要的艺术，他说的是：[3]

Oeconomy, in general, is the art of providing for all the wants of a family, with prudence and frugality

社会的财富

亚当·斯密 (Adam Smith)[4] 在他著名的An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations一书中对政治经济学的性质进行了讨论并总结出政治经济学的两个目标，他写道：[5]

Political economy, considered as a branch of the science of a statesman or legislator, proposes two distinct objects: first, to provide a plentiful revenue or subsistence for the people, or more properly to enable them to provide such a revenue or subsistence for themselves; and secondly, to supply the state or commonwealth with a revenue sufficient for the public services. It proposes to enrich both the people and the sovereign.

斯密的政治经济学目标强调的是人民及社会生存所需的财富，经济学不仅涉及人民，同时也涉及国家或政府。也有不少古典经济学家反对经济学家将研究的重点放在政府和政策上，他们认为政治经济学研究的是支配财富的生产、分配和消费的法则，例如大卫·李嘉图 (David Ricardo)[6] 认为政治经济学需要解决的问题是财富的分配。他在On the Principles of Political Economy and Taxation一书的前言中说：[7]

To determine the laws which regulate this distribution, is the principal problem in Political Economy: much as the science has been improved by the writings of Turgot, Stuart, Smith, Say, Sismondi, and others, they afford very little satisfactory information respecting the natural course of rent, profit, and wages.

财富、分配和消费

让·巴蒂斯特·萨伊 (Jean-Baptiste Say)[8] 认为政治经济学就是关于财富、分配和消费的学问。他在1803年出版了Traité d’économie politique, ou simple exposition de la manière dont se forment, se distribuent et se consomment les richesses一书，该书英文译本的名称是A Treatise on Political Economy, or the Production, Distribution and Consumption of Wealth，即政治经济学便是关于财富的形成、分配以及消费方式的解释。[9] 萨伊认为财富独立于政治组织，政府的优劣与财富没有直接的联系，正如政府的优劣与教育的关系一样。萨伊所说的财富并不是自然财富，而是社会财富 (social wealth)。他说：[10]

Political economy, from facts always carefully observed, makes known to us the nature of wealth; from the knowledge of its nature deduces the means of its creation, unfolds the order of its distribution, and the phenomena at tending its destruction. It is, in other words, an exposition of the general facts observed in relation to this subject.

道德及心理学法则

约翰·斯迪沃特·穆勒 (John Stuart Mill)[11] 在什么是经济学的问题上并没有跟随他父亲的足迹，他在十九世纪后期对经济学下的定义并没有强调政府及其作用。穆勒在Essays on Some Unsettled Questions of Political Economy一书说道：[12]

Political Economy, then, may be defined as follows; and the definition seems to be complete:— “The science which traces the laws of such of the phenomena of society as arise from the combined operations of mankind for the production of wealth, in so far as those phenomena are not modified by the pursuit of any other object.” But while this is a correct definition of Political Economy as a portion of the field of science, the didactic writer on the subject will naturally combine in his exposition, with the truths of the pure science, as many of the practical modifications as will, in his estimation, be most conducive to the usefulness of his work.

虽然穆勒同样认为经济学与财富的生产和分配有关，但他认为经济学是关系到财务生产和分配的道德及心理学法则的科学，他强调的是一种必然性。他在On the Definition of Political Economy; and the Method of Investigation Proper to It一文中是说到：[13]

From the above considerations the following seems to come out as the correct and complete definition of Political Economy:—“The science which treats of the production and distribution of wealth, so far as they depend upon the laws of human nature.” Or thus—“The science relating to the moral or psychological laws of the production and distribution of wealth.”

人的行为

阿尔弗雷德·马歇尔 (Alfred Marshall)[14] 应当是将“政治经济学”等同于“经济学”的第一人，他同样强调人在经济学中的重要地位。马歇尔可以说是穆勒之后的又一位集大成者，对十九世纪中叶后经济学的发展做出了总结。马歇尔对穆勒的经济学定义提出了挑战，他认为经济学研究的对象是人的行为。马歇尔在Principles of Economics – An Introductory Volume一书中这样写道：[15]

Political Economy or Economics is a study of mankind in the ordinary business of life; it examines that part of individual and social action which is most closely connected with the attainment and with the use of the material requisites of wellbeing. Thus it is on the one side a study of wealth; and on the other, and more important side, a part of the study of man.

以卡尔·门格尔 (Carl Menger)[16] 为代表的奥地利经济学派旗帜鲜明地指出，经济学研究的对象是“经济行为”(economizing behaviour)。利奥尼尔·罗宾斯 (Lionel Robbins)[17] 在An Essay of the Nature and Significance of Economic Science一书中对之前经济学家对经济学下定义的情形进行了分析并列出了经济学的各种定义，包括埃德温·坎南 (Edwin Cannan)[18]、维弗雷多·帕累托 (Vilfredo Pareto)[19]、约翰·贝茨·克拉克 (John Bates Clark)[20] 以及马歇尔的经济学定义。在此基础上，罗宾斯进行了自己的论证并最终对经济学作出了他自己的定义：[21]

Economics is the science which studies human behavior as a relationship between ends and scarce means which have alternative uses.

罗宾斯认为经济学并不是研究物质财富原因的学问，而是研究人类在稀缺性面前做出各种选择行为的学问。什么行为是行为并不取决于该行为本身，而是取决于该行为是否已涉及放弃其他行为。罗宾斯的定义把稀缺性和选择置于经济分析的核心。然而罗宾斯的经济学定义并没有得到很大程度上的认同。在二十世纪三十至四十年代，仍然有不少经济学家追随穆勒和马歇尔，将经济学定义为研究财富或收入的社会科学。

约翰·内维尔·凯恩斯 (John Neville Keynes)[22] 曾对“经济”(economy) 和“经济学”(economic) 的用法及其含义提出了自己的看法，他认为由于在使用上存在歧义，因此关于“政治经济学”本质的研究也就难免困惑了。在The Scope and Method of the Political Economics一书中，凯恩斯这样说道：[23]

In the terms economy and economic there is an ambiguity that underlies much of the current confusion as to the nature of political economy. Any line of action is commonly termed economic when it attains its end with the least possible expenditure of money, time, and effort; and by economy is meant the employment of our resources with prudence and discretion, so that we may derive from them the maximum net return of utility. But the words are also used in a sense not implying any specially reasonable adaptation of means to ends; and in works on political economy the term economic is generally employed simply as an adjective corresponding to the substantive wealth. By an economic fact, accordingly, is understood any fact relating to the phenomena of wealth. By economic activities are meant those human activities that direct themselves towards the creation, appropriation, and accumulation of wealth; and by economic customs and institutions, the customs and institutions of human society in regard to wealth.

变化的经济学

雅各布·维纳 (Jacob Viner)[24] 为经济学下了一个很有趣的定义，他认为经济学就是经济学家所做的事 (Economics is what economists do)。[25] 其实维纳的定义并不是随意的，它强调的是经济学的变化。如果经济学始终处于变化和发展的状态，经济学家的所作所为应当是对经济学的最好诠释。不可否认的是，无论经济学被如何定义，经济学家的工作则不会因定义而受到影响。相反，经济学家所选择的研究方向甚至方法则会对经济学的定义产生影响。

稀缺性

保罗·萨缪尔森 (Paul Samuelson)[26] 是二战后相当重要的一位经济学家，他认为经济学是关于稀缺性的学问。萨穆尔森的观点应当与罗宾斯的相同，他在1967年出版的第七版Economics – An Introductory Analysis一书中这样写道：[27]

Economics is the study of how men and society choose, with or without the use of money, to employ scarce productive resources, which could have alternative uses, to produce various commodities over time and distribute them for consumption, now and in the future, among various people and groups in society.

萨缪尔森的强调稀缺性的经济学定义始终得到了保留，在2010年出版的Economics第19版中，经济学的定义更为精炼，但依然强调了稀缺性：[28]

Economics is the study of how societies use scarce resources to produce valuable goods and services and distribute them among different individuals.

格里高利·曼昆 (Gregory Mankiw)[29] 是又一位重要的当代美国经济学家，他给经济学下的定义非常简单，但同样强调了资源的稀缺性。曼昆在Principles of Economics一书中写到：[30]

Economics is the study of how society manages its scarce resources.

曼昆接着从经济学家的工作特征进一步对经济学的性质和特征进行了阐述，他继续写到：[31]

Economists, therefore, study how people make decisions: how much they work, what they buy, how much they save, and how they invest their savings. Economists also study how people interact with one another. For instance, they examine how the multitude of buyers and sellers of a good together determine the price at which the good is sold and the quantity that is sold. Finally, economists analyze forces and trends that affect the economy as a whole, including the growth in average income, the fraction of the population that cannot find work, and the rate at which prices are rising.

曼昆认为经济学家可以分成两类，一类经济学家是工程师，另一类经济学家则是科学家。工程师是解决问题的，科学家追求的则是了解世界。早期的经济学大多是工程师，他们试图解决实际问题，但过去数十年里的经济学家则热衷于发明分析工具和创造理论性原则，但这些工具和原则实用价值不大。在工程师和科学家之间基本上老死不相往来。曼昆认为社会不仅需要工程师，而且也需要科学家：[32]

Just as the world needs both scientists and engineers, it needs macroeconomists of both mindsets. But I believe that the discipline would advance more smoothly and fruitfully if macroeconomists always kept in mind that their field has a dual role.

思考方式

保罗·海恩 (Paul Heyne)[33] 提出了经济学是一种思考方式的观点，海恩的观点基于这样一个假设，即所有社会现象均系个人对期待利益及其成本所作选择之结果。这里的思考有两个方面，即关注人类行为 (human actions) 以及人类互动 (human interactions)。人类行为就是如何最有效地分配资源，这是稀缺性所决定的。人类互动是不同个人的不同人类行为相互影响的结果，这是人的差异性所决定的。解决稀缺性的方式是有效利用，而解决差异性的方式就是协调。海恩说：[34]

The economic way of thinking remains useful even when we reach what some people think of as the outer boundaries of the market and where the border of government begins. Government measures and institutions are also social phenomena, and as such they are proper grist to the mill of all economists with a courageous faith in the basic assumption.