经济学家都是小气鬼?

Academic economists gather in Atlanta this weekend for their annual meetings, always held the first weekend after New Year's Day. That's not only because it coincides with holidays at most universities. A post-holiday lull in business travel also puts hotel rates near the lowest point of the year.
学术界的经济学家近日在亚特兰大汇聚一堂，参加他们每年都会赶在元旦后第一个周末举行的年会。选择这个时间，不仅是因为现在正是大多数大学放假的日子。还有一个考虑是，假期后商务旅行的普遍减少也会使酒店价格降至年内几乎最低的水平。
　　
Economists are often cheapskates.
经济学家往往都是小气鬼。
　　
The economists make cities bid against each other to hold their convention, and don't care so much about beaches, golf courses or other frills. It's like buying a car, explains the American Economic Association's secretary-treasurer, John Siegfried, an economist at Vanderbilt University.
范德比尔德大学经济学家、美国经济协会秘书长兼财务主管约翰．西格弗里德表示，经济学家们在选择会议地点时，让许多城市出价竞标，他们根本不在乎海滩、高尔夫球场或者其他配套服务。

Some of the world's most famous economists were famously frugal. After a dinner thrown by the British economic giant John Maynard Keynes, writer Virginia Woolf complained that the guests had to pick 'the bones of Maynard's grouse of which there were three to eleven people.' Milton Friedman, the late Nobel laureate, routinely returned reporters' calls collect.
一些世界大牌经济学家的小气也是非常出名的。英国作家弗吉尼亚．伍尔芙在参加英国经济学巨匠约翰．梅纳德．凯恩斯招待的一次晚宴后曾抱怨说，来了11个人，却只上三只鸡，害得客人们不得不“连鸡骨头也都啃得干干净净。”已故诺贝尔经济学奖获得者米尔顿．弗里德曼总是用对方付费的电话回复记者问题。

Some economists may be cheap, at least by the standards of other people, because of their training or a fascination with money and choices that drives them to the field.
有些经济学家也许喜欢捡便宜，或者至少按其他人的标准看来是这样，这是因为他们受过专业训练，或者正是因为对金钱和选择的着迷，使得他们进入这个领域。

Economists long have studied 'free riders,' the sort of people who take more than their fair share of something when circumstances permit. Think of the person who orders the most expensive entree at a restaurant, knowing that the check will be shared equally among companions.
经济学家们长期以来一直研究在“无本获利者”，即那些在条件许可的时候获得超常利益的人。不是总有这样的人么？一旦知道大家会分摊账单，就会在点菜的时候尽捡贵的。