在市場經(jīng)濟中，一個能夠調(diào)控買賣雙方關(guān)系甚至調(diào)控生產(chǎn)資源分配的重要因素就是：Price 價格。

在這一講中，我們就跟您談談價格和它的功能。

價格可以說是一種能把買方和賣方聯(lián)系在一起的機制。任何貨物或服務都必須制定出買賣雙方都能認可和接受的價格，才能保證現(xiàn)代的市場順利運行。

澳大利亞墨爾本莫納什大學經(jīng)濟系主任福塞斯教授對價格做了這樣的解釋：

We sometimes think of prices as being the equilibrating mechanism, to use an economist's jargon. We can all understand a situation whereby if prices are too high people go away, they'll just leave the market place. They won't be interested in buying.

Likewise if prices are too low, the sellers won't be prepared to sell. They'll simply take their prduce home.

And so prices adjust in markets so that we can get to a situation when people are reasonably satisfied and, essentially, what the sellers want to sell is more or less what the buyers want to buy in terms of quantity.

And so there is an equilibrium in the market.

Prices become the lever through which the quantities that people want to sell are equal to the quantities that people want to buy.

福塞斯教授提到了這樣幾個英文詞匯：

1. equilibrating mechanism 平衡機制
2. equilibrium 平衡，均衡
3. jargon 行話
4. adjust 調(diào)節(jié)，調(diào)整
5. lever 杠桿，手段
6. quantity 數(shù)量，總量

下面我們再分段聽一下福塞斯教授講話的原文及中文翻譯：（英文略）

福塞斯教授說，我們有時把價格看作是一種平衡機制，這是經(jīng)濟學家的行話。我們都知道在價格過高的情況下買主就會離開市場，對購買不感興趣。

同樣，如果價格過低，賣主也不會出售，只會把貨物帶回家。

因此價格在市場上進行調(diào)節(jié)，達到各方都能基本上滿意的程度。而且最重要的是使賣方希望出售的貨物量與買方希望購買的貨物量大致上相等。這樣市場的供求就達到了平衡。

價格成為杠桿，通過它的調(diào)節(jié)，人們要出售的貨物量等同于人們要購買的貨物量。

下面我們再聽一遍澳大利亞墨爾本莫納什大學經(jīng)濟系主任福塞斯教授談話全文。（略）

澳大利亞消費與競爭事務委員會主席阿蘭費爾斯對價格的功能作了進一步的解釋：

The role of the prices in the economy is several-fold. At the crudest level, prices provide an incentive for production. The higher the price, the more that people who produce will swing in to an industry and try and produce.

Prices also ration demand. That is, consumers would have unlimited demand for certain products if they're given away free. But if they are charged for them in accordance with the cost of making them, then that will ration demand and bring demand and production into an appropriate balance. So that's the first two roles of prices.

But prices also have a signalling function. That is they send a signal to producers that it's better for them to produce x where x has a high price, than y, where y has a low price and is not valued very highly by consumers.

Prices generally play an incentive role. They give incentives to producers to produce or not produce, depending on their level. They give incentives to consumers whether or not to consume particular goods.

費爾斯在他的談話中使用了這樣一些詞匯：

1. several-fold 多方面的，成倍的
2. incentive 刺激，鼓勵
3. swing 轉(zhuǎn)向，改變
4. ration 約束，定量供應
5. signalling 傳遞信息

下面我們分段聽一遍澳大利亞消費與競爭事務委員會主席費爾斯的談話以及中文翻譯：（英文略）

價格在經(jīng)濟中有多重作用。從最基本的層次來說，價格刺激生產(chǎn)。價格越高，投入這一行業(yè)進行生產(chǎn)的人就越多。

同時價格也能限制需求。這就是說，如果某些產(chǎn)品是免費供應，消費者的需求就可能是無限制的。但如果消費者需要按照產(chǎn)品的成本付出費用，就會使需求受到控制，使需求和產(chǎn)品供應形成恰當?shù)钠胶狻＿@是價格的頭兩種功能。

價格還有傳遞信息的功能。它們向生產(chǎn)者送出信息，說明生產(chǎn)甲種產(chǎn)品會比生產(chǎn)乙種產(chǎn)品更好，因為甲種產(chǎn)品的價格高，而乙種產(chǎn)品的價格低，不大受消費者的重視。

價格總的來說是一種刺激物。根據(jù)價格本身的水平，它鼓勵生產(chǎn)者生產(chǎn)或不生產(chǎn)某種產(chǎn)品，它也鼓勵消費者消費或不消費某些貨物。

現(xiàn)在我們重聽一遍澳大利亞消費與競爭事務委員會主席費爾斯談話的全文。（略）

在這一講的最后，我們再復習一下今天學習的一些英語詞匯：

1. equilibrating mechanism 平衡機制
2. equilibrium 平衡，均衡
3. jargon 行話
4. adjust 調(diào)節(jié)，調(diào)整
5. lever 杠桿，手段
6. quantity 數(shù)量，總量
7. several-fold 多方面的，成倍的
8. incentive 刺激， 鼓勵
9. swing 轉(zhuǎn)向，改變
10. ration 約束，定量供應
11. signalling 傳遞信息

這次由澳洲廣播電臺中文部為您制作的金融世界節(jié)目到這里就結(jié)束了。謝謝您的收聽。