AS my fine professor of economics at Columbia, C. Lowell Harriss （who just celebrated his 96th birthday） used to tell us, economics is the study of the allocation of scarce goods and services. What could be scarcer or more precious than love? It is rare, hard to come by and often fragile.

　　C．Lowell HarrissSkip 是我在哥伦比亚大学时的一位和善的经济教授，他刚刚庆祝完自己96岁的生日。他曾经跟我们讲，经济学研究的就是如何分配稀缺的资源和服务。有什么比爱更稀有，更珍贵的吗？爱的确很珍稀，难以获取，并且很脆弱。

　　My primary life study has been about love. Second comes economics, so here, in the form of a few rules, is a little amalgam of the two fields: the economics of love. （I last wrote about this subject 20 years or so ago, and it's time to update it.）

　　我人生的第一课就是关于爱的学习，然后才是经济学，因此，从一些规律的形式来讲，就是两个领域的结合，即爱的经济学（我上次写这方面的主题是大约20年以前，现在该对它进行更新了）。

　　In general, and with rare exceptions, the returns in love situations are roughly proportional to the amount of time and devotion invested. The amount of love you get from an investment in love is correlated, if only roughly, to the amount of yourself you invest in the relationship.

　　总地来说，几乎绝少例外，爱的回报大致上与投入的时间和奉献总量是成正比的。你获得的爱与对爱的投入是相互关联的，如果粗略来算，就是与你自己在这段关系中的投入总量相称。

　　If you invest caring, patience and unselfishness, you get those things back. （This assumes, of course, that you are having a relationship with someone who loves you, and not a one-sided love affair with someone who isn't interested.）

　　如果你投入关心、耐心和无私奉献，你也会被回报这些。（当然，这个假设，是建立在你与一个同样爱你的人之间的关系上的，并不是一厢情愿的单相思。）

　　High-quality bonds consistently yield more return than junk, and so it is with high-quality love. As for the returns on bonds, I know that my comment will come as a surprise to people who have been brainwashed into thinking that junk bonds are free money. They aren't. The data from the maven of bond research, W. Braddock Hickman, shows that junk debt outperforms high quality only in rare situations, because of the default risk.

　　高质量的债券投资总会比垃圾债券获得更多的收益，高质量的爱情亦如此。关于债劵的收益，我想我的评价会使一些人大吃一惊，这些人被垃圾债劵会赚大钱的观念洗过脑，他们错了。债券专家W. Braddock Hickman的研究资料表明，由于违约风险，垃圾债券只是在极少的情况下表现比绩优债券强。

　　In love, the data is even clearer. Stay with high-quality human beings. And once you find you that are in a junk relationship, sell immediately. Junk situations can look appealing and seductive, but junk is junk. Be wary of it unless you control the market.

　　对于爱情而言，资料更为详实。要坚持与好品质的人交往。一旦发现处于“垃圾债券”的关系中，立即出手。“垃圾债券”的状态看起来似乎很有吸引力很诱人，但垃圾毕竟是垃圾。必须对它保持谨慎，除非你能掌控市场。

　　（Or, as I like to tell college students, the absolutely surest way to ruin your life is to have a relationship with someone with many serious problems, and to think that you can change this person.）

　　（或者，像我跟大学生们讲的那样，一个确信无疑能毁掉你生活的方法就是与一个有着各种严重问题的人关系密切，并自认为能够改变这个人。）

　　Research pays off. The most appealing and seductive （that word again） exterior can hide the most danger and chance of loss. For most of us, diversification in love, at least beyond a very small number, is impossible, so it's necessary to do a lot of research on the choice you make. It is a rare man or woman who can resist the outward and the surface. But exteriors can hide far too much.

　　研究是有益的。最有吸引力和最诱人的外表下而藏着最大的危险和损失的风险。对我们大多数人而言，分散爱情的风险，是不可能的。因此有必要在你选择做大量的调查研究。极少的男人或女人能经得外表的诱惑，而表象可能藏得非常深。

　　In every long-term romantic situation, returns are greater when there is a monopoly. If you have to share your love with others, if you have to compete even after a brief while with others, forget the whole thing. You want to have monopoly bonds with your long-term lover. At least most situations work out better this way. （ I am too old to consider short-term romantic events. Those were my life when Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon were in the White House.）

　　在每一段长期的浪漫关系中，如果是垄断关系，回报会更大。如果你不得 不与别人分享爱情，如果你不得不在片刻过后与人竞争，那么忘记一切。你希望与你的长期爱人保持专一关系，这样至少大多数情况发展得更好。（我太老了没有考虑短期的浪漫关系，我生活在Lyndon Johnson和Richard Nixon在白宫主政的时代。）

　　The returns on your investment should at least equal the cost of the investment. If you are getting less back than you put in over a considerable period of time, back off.

　　你在投入上的回报应该至少与你投入的花费相称。如果你在相当长的一段时间内获得的回报比投入少，那么，赶紧撤退。

　　Long-term investment pays off. The impatient day player will fare poorly without inside information or market-controlling power. He or she will have a few good days but years of agony in the world of love.

　　To coin a phrase: Fall in love in haste, repent at leisure.

　　长期投会获利。那些缺乏耐心的人没有内部信息和对市场的掌控能力,将陷入困境。他（ 或她）在爱的世界中只会感到长年的痛苦，而不会有多少快乐。

　　如一句俗语：急切地爱，慢慢的悔。

　　Realistic expectations are everything. If you have unrealistic expectations, they will rarely be met. If you think that you can go from nowhere to having someone wonderful in love with you, you are probably wrong.

　　现实的期望就是一切。如果你怀有不切实际的期望，很少能实现。如果你 认为无论身在何处都能让一个优秀的人爱上你，那你可能错了。

　　You need expectations that match reality before you can make some progress. There may be exceptions, but they are rare.

　　你的期望必须与现实相符才能有所进展。或许有些例外，但是少之又少。

　　When you have a winner, stick with your winner. Whether in love or in the stock market, winners are to be prized.

　　当你有胜算的把握，那么你就坚持到底 . 无论是在爱情中或在股票市场，胜利者终会被奖赏。

　　Have a dog or many dogs or cats in your life. These are your anchors to windward and your unfailing source of love.

　　养一只狗或许多狗或猫，它们是你迎风而上的支柱，以及爱的源泉。

　　Ben Franklin summed it up well. In times of stress, the three best things to have are an old dog, an old wife and ready money. How right he was.

　　Ben Franklin 总结得好，在失意的时候有三宝，老狗、老婆和现金。他说得对极了.

　　THERE is more that could be said about the economics of love, but these thoughts may divert you while you are thinking about your future.

　　还有更多关于爱情的经济学的说法，但当你思考未来时，这些思想或许会许会使你感到高兴。

　　And let me close with another thought. I am far from glib about the economy. It has a lot of pitfalls facing it. As workers and investors, we know that many dangers lurk in our paths.

　　让我以另一种思想来作为结束。我对经济学的认识并不是肤浅的，它前面有许多陷井，作为研究者和投资者，我们知道前进的路上会有许多潜在的危险。

　　But so far, these things have always worked themselves out and this one will, too. In the meantime, they say that falling in love is wonderful, and that the best is falling in love with what you have.

　　但迄今为止，这些观点总能证明其正确性，这个亦如此。同时，他们说恋爱是美妙的，而最美妙的是爱上你所拥有一切。

　　By Ben Stein, Ben Stein is a lawyer, writer, actor and economist.