VOA慢速英语：2015年诺贝尔经济学奖得主研究人们的消费方式

The winner of the 2015 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences studies how people spend their money. He also has explored how spending can affect both living conditions and poverty.

2015年诺贝尔经济科学奖的获奖者对人们的花钱方式进行研究。他还探讨了消费是如何影响生活水准及贫困的。

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences is presenting the Economics Prize to Professor Angus Deaton of Princeton University in New Jersey. The Nobel committee says his research has mainly dealt with three questions: How do consumers distribute their spending among different goods? How much of society's wealth is spent and how much is saved? And, how do we best measure and study well-being and poverty?

瑞典皇家科学院将诺贝尔经济学奖颁发给新泽西州普林斯顿大学的安格斯·迪顿教授。诺贝尔委员会表示，他的研究主要涉及三个问题：消费者如何分配不同产品之间的开支？社会财富花费多少？节省多少？还有，我们如何更好的衡量与研究幸福与贫困？2

Angus Deaton speaks at a gathering at Princeton University after he was named Nobel prize winner for economics.

Mr. Deaton usedhousehold surveys to collect detailed information about how families spend their money. For example in one study, the Princeton professor examined the relationship between poverty and the amount of calories in the food people ate.

迪顿先生采用住户调查来收集有关家庭消费方式的详细信息。例如，在一项研究中，普林斯顿大学教授考察贫困与人们所食食物中卡路里总量之间的关系。

The Nobel committee said Mr. Deaton's research has shown "how the clever use of household data can shed light on issues such as the relationship between income and calorie intake, and the extent of gender discrimination with the family."

诺贝尔委员会表示，迪顿先生的研究表明“如何巧妙利用家庭数据来阐明问题，如收入与卡路里摄入量及家庭性别歧视程度之间的关系。”

The Princeton professor was asked why he paid so much attention to household information. Mr. Deaton said that his studies were mainly about people and their behavior.

普林斯顿大学教授在被问到他为什么如此关注家庭信息时，迪顿先生表示，他的研究主要是关于人们及其行为。

"Well, you know, it's individually... it's about people in the end, and if you don't understand... you have to understand what makes people tick, and you have to understand, you know, what's good for them. And for me it's always been about trying to understand behavior and to try to infer from that behavior, you know, how people are doing." Visit the website www.chinavoa.com to get more information!

“嗯，你知道，单独而言，它最终是关于人们的。如果你不明白......你必须明白人们如何抉择，不得不明白，你知道的，什么对他们有益。对我而言，我一直在试图理解他们的行为，并试图从这种行为中推断他们会怎样做。

The Nobel committee also praised Mr. Deaton's work because it used detailed information about real people, not theoretical ideas. Subjects of his research have included happiness, well-being and aging.

诺贝尔委员会还对迪顿先生的工作表示赞扬，因为它使用了真实人群的详细信息，而不是靠理论设想。他的研究课题包括幸福、福利与老龄化。

At a press conference this week, the Nobel Prize winner said he was pleased that his work had been recognized. He told reporters he believed poverty would decrease. "I think we've had a remarkable decrease for the past 20 to 30 years. I do expect that to continue," he said.

本周的新闻发布会上，这位诺贝尔奖得主表示，他很高兴他的工作得到认可。他告诉记者，他相信贫困将会减少。迪顿表示，“我认为在过去的二三十年里，贫困显著下降。我确实希望该趋势将继续下去。”

Mr. Deaton is a citizen of both the United States and Britain. He was born in Scotland. He has served as a Professor of Economics and International Affairs at Princeton since 1983. The Economics Prize has been offered by Sweden's central bank in memory of Alfred Nobel since 1969. It is valued this year at $978,000.

迪顿先生既是美国公民，又是英国公民。他出生在英格兰。自1983年以来他一直担任普林斯顿经济和国际事务学教授。自1969年以来，经济学奖一直由瑞典中央银行提供，用以纪念阿尔弗雷德·诺贝尔先生。今年该奖项价值978,000美元。

I'm Mario Ritter.

我是马里奥·理特。

How do you spend your money? Are you a saver or a spender? Let us know in the Comments section below or on our Facebook page.

Mario Ritter wrote this story for VOA Learning English. George Grow was the editor.

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Words in This Story

consumers– n. people who buy and use goods and services

distribute– v. to choose how much of something (money) to be used for different purposes

analyze – v. to study something closely and carefully; to learn the nature and relationship of the parts of something

infer– v. to form an opinion about someone or something based on available evidence

household– adj. one or more people who live in the same home

surveys– n. studies; collecting information about a population