第二编 货币的价值
第九章 货币客观交换价值的地域差异存在的问题
章节大纲
一、地区间的价格关系
Money can perform its services from virtually any location. Gold stored in the cellars of the Bank of England can be used as a common medium of exchange anywhere in the world, through the use of banknotes, checks, and clearing systems. In contrast, physical location is a crucial feature of other economic goods. “Coffee in Brazil” is not the same good as “coffee in England,” from the perspective of English consumers.
货币可以在任何地方提供服务。存储在英格兰银行地下室的黄金可以通过使用纸币、支票和清算系统，在世界任何地方用作通用的交换媒介。相比之下，物理位置是其他经济商品的关键特征。从英国消费者的角度来看，“巴西的咖啡”与“英国的咖啡”不同。
If we completely disregard the possible (but small) influence of the position of money on its valuation, then we can derive the law that every economic good that is ready for consumption, has a subjective use-value qua consumption good at the place where it is, and qua production good at those places to which it may be transported for consumption. Therefore, the money-price of any commodity in any place must be the same as the money-price at any other place, once we adjust for the money-cost of transportation, unless there are institutional limits restricting exchange. (In the real world, there are possible costs of the transport of money, the need to re-coin it, and so on, that would affect the foreign-exchange rate such as the cable rate. These complications do not arise if we assume the money itself stays put.)
如果我们完全忽视货币位置对其估值的可能（但很小）的影响，那么我们可以得出这样一个规律：每一种可供消费的经济商品，在其所在地都有一个作为消费品的主观使用价值，同时在需要运输过去以供消费的地方，它具有作为生产品的主观使用价值。因此，一旦我们排除了运输的货币成本，任意商品在任何地方的货币价格一定与任何其它地方的货币价格相同，除非存在制约交换的制度限制。（在现实世界中，可能会有运输货币的成本，需要重新铸造货币等等，这将影响诸如电汇汇率之类的外汇汇率。如果我们假设货币本身保持不变，就不会出现这些复杂情况。）
二、所谓的货币购买力的地域差异
Despite the arguments put forward in the previous section, many people still cling to the belief that one’s money “goes further” in some regions compared to others. However, this erroneous view neglects the fact that the same physical item is a different good, economically speaking, depending on its location. A cocktail in a bar in Manhattan is a different good from the “same drink” in a bar in Boise, so their different money-prices cannot lead us to conclude that the “value of money” is higher in Boise than in Manhattan. On the contrary, the purchasing power of money will tend to be equalized in all regions where it is used, and any apparent discrepancies are due to differences on the commodity side.
尽管上一节提出了这些论点，但许多人仍然坚持认为，与其它地区相比，一个人的货币在某些地区“走得更远”。然而，这种错误的观点忽略了这样一个事实，即从经济角度来看，具有同样物理属性的物品处于不同地理位置时，是不同的商品。曼哈顿一家酒吧的一杯鸡尾酒与博伊西一家酒吧的“同一杯酒”是不同的，因此它们不同的货币价格不能让我们得出结论，认为博伊西的“货币价值”比曼哈顿的要高。正相反，货币购买力在使用货币的所有地区都会趋于均衡，任何明显的差异都是由于商品方面的差异造成的。
三、所谓的生活成本的地域差异
Closely related to the fallacy that the purchasing power of money can vary from region to region, is the claim that the “cost of living” is higher in one area versus another. Here too we need to consider the subjective valuations of individuals, rather than the physical attributes of goods and services. An apartment carries a higher rental price in a resort town near a popular beach, versus a rural area with no special attractions, precisely because people value the proximity to the beach, the local night life, etc. It is simply not true that the same lifestyle can be obtained more cheaply in the rural town than in the resort town. If the “cost of living” really were higher in one location, people would move out of the area until its prices had fallen enough to eliminate the discrepancy.
与货币购买力因地区而异这一谬论密切相关的是，有人声称一个地区的“生活成本”高于另一个地区的。在这里，我们也需要考虑个人的主观评价，而不是商品和服务的物理属性。与没有特殊景点的农村地区相比，在靠近热门海滩的度假小镇，公寓的租金更高，这正是因为人们看重海滩附近的环境、当地的夜生活等。认为在乡村小镇可以比在度假小镇更便宜地获得同样的生活方式明显是不真实的。如果一个地方的“生活费用”真的更高，那么人们就会搬离该地区，直到它的价格下降到足以消除这种差异为止。
技术说明
Mises says on page 171 that the money-price of a commodity must be the same in all places, due account being made for the money-cost of transport, and disregarding “the time taken in transit.” This caveat is necessary because the time dimension affects the subjective valuation of goods. For an extreme example, if it takes one year to ship a new computer to a colony on Mars, the manufacturer would insist on a higher retail price (obtainable in one year) than the current spot price on Earth, even after adding in explicit shipping expenses. This is because the computer manufacturer could receive revenues from Earth-based customers immediately, which is more valuable than having to wait a year to receive the same amount of money from Martian consumers.
米塞斯在英文版第171页说，商品的货币价格在所有地方都一定相同。这句话适当考虑到运输的货币成本，并且忽略了“在运输中花费的时间”。这一警告是必要的，因为时间维度影响商品的主观评价。举个极端的例子，如果将一台新计算机运送到火星上的殖民地需要一年时间，即使加上明确的运输费用，制造商也会坚持要比地球上的现货价格更高的零售价（一年内可以获得）。这是因为计算机制造商可以立即从地球客户那里获得收入，这比等待一年再从火星消费者那里获得相同数额的货币更有价值。
Mises concedes on pages 176–77 that there is a limited sense in which a region’s higher “cost of living” is both valid theoretically and important in practice. Namely, for those workers who move to a region and do not subjectively value its amenities, the high money-prices for rent, parking, food, and so on must be compensated by an appropriate increase in their money-wages or salaries. For example, a hospital located in a resort beach town may need to offer a higher salary to attract (say) a qualified brain surgeon, if there happen to be no brain surgeons eager to live near the beach and who are therefore willing to accept the “normal” salary in the face of above-average prices for housing in the resort town.
米塞斯在英文版第176-177页承认，狭义所说的某一个地区有较高的“生活费用”，这种说法不但在理论上有效，而且在实践中也很重要。换句话说，对于那些搬到某个地区的工人来说，如果他们没有主观看重此地的便利设施，那么必须通过适当增加其薪酬来补偿他们在此地需要支付的高价房租、停车费、食品等。例如，如果没有渴望住在海滩附近并因此愿意接受“正常”薪酬的脑外科医生，那么位于海滨度假小镇的医院可能需要提供更高的薪酬来吸引一名合格的脑外科医生，因为度假小镇的住房价格高于平均水平。
新术语
Clearing systems: Arrangements that cancel out or “clear” reciprocal financial claims, so that only net claims need be settled through the actual transfer of money.
清算系统：取消或“清除”彼此之间金融债权的安排，以便只需要通过实际转账结算净债权。
Foreign-exchange rate: The exchange ratio between a domestic and foreign currency.
外汇汇率：国内货币与外国货币之间的汇率。
Cable rate: Slang used by foreign-exchange traders to denote the exchange rate between the U.S. dollar and British pound sterling.
电汇汇率（Cable rate）：外汇交易商用来表示美元和英镑之间汇率的俚语。
研究问题
What complementary good is necessary to turn the production good “coffee in Brazil” into the consumption good “coffee in Europe”? (p. 171)
将作为生产品的“巴西咖啡”转变为作为消费品的“欧洲咖啡”需要有什么补充商品？（英文版第171页）Explain: “To what absurd conclusions should we not come if we regarded goods lying in bond in a customs or excise warehouse and goods of the same technological species on which the duty or tax had already been paid as belonging to the same species of goods in the economic sense?” (pp. 172–73)
解释：“试问，我们将海关保税仓库中的保税商品与那些制造工艺相同而已经交税的商品视为经济意义上的同种商品，那么还有什么荒谬的结论是我们提不出来的呢？”（英文版第172-173页）Explain: “It is hardly possible to agree with these arguments [put forward by Wieser], which smack a little too much of the cost-of-production theory of value and are certainly not to be reconciled with the principles of the subjective theory.” (p. 174)
解释：“很难同意[维塞尔提出的]这些论点，这些观点有些过于强调价值的生产成本理论，而且显然与主观理论的原则不一致。”（英文版第174页）Can government restrictions on the movement of commodities and workers explain differences in retail prices? (p. 175)
政府对商品和工人流动的限制能否解释零售价格的差异？（英文版第175页）What does Mises intend with his example of a hotel on the peaks and valleys of the Alps? (p. 176)
米塞斯举了在阿尔卑斯山峰和山谷上的旅馆的例子是想说明什么？ （英文版第176页）