腹有詩書氣自華。比爾蓋茨每年都會貼出自己的年度書單供大家參考選擇。看看今年他又推薦了我們什麼好書吧~
I didn’t really plan it this way. But as I look at the list of the best books I read this year, I see how a number of them touch on economics and business. That’s fitting, in a year when Thomas Piketty’s Capital in the Twenty-First Century put a big spotlight on inequality. In addition, with the Asian economies so much in the news, I wanted to read How Asia Works, which promised to explain why some of the continent’s countries grew so fast while others languished. And I got to brush up on an old favorite, the best business book I’ve ever read.
我其實沒想到要寫這個。但是當我看了一下今年我讀過的好書書單，我瞭解到它們是如何涉及經濟和商業內容的。很合適吧，在托馬斯·皮克迪的《21世紀的資本》聚焦於不平等問題的這一年給出這個書單。而且，新聞裡充斥著那麼多亞洲經濟的內容，我想讀一讀《亞洲大趨勢》，這本書承諾能解答為何一些大陸國家在其他國家失去活力的時候可以發展的如此迅速。而且我也想溫習一下我讀過的最棒的財經圖書。
Here are short reviews of those three, plus two other terrific books I read this year. Not all of these came out in—sometimes I fall behind and don’t get to a book until well after it’s been published. Other times I’m able to get ahead of the game: The Rosie Effect won’t be published in the United States until December 31, but the author was nice enough to send Melinda and me advance copies before he stopped by the office in September.
以下是其中三本的小短評，還有另外兩本我在今年讀過的好書。不是所有書都是2020出版的——有時我有點落後於時代，而且要在它出版一段時間後才拿到手。另一些時候，我則可以提前看到書：《羅茜效應》才在美國出版，但是作者9月寫完以後很貼心的送了我和梅琳達先行版本。
I’d encourage you to take a look at any of these that sound interesting.
我鼓勵你們看一看這些書單裡聽上去很有意思的書。
Business Adventures, by John Brooks.
約翰·布魯斯的《商業冒險》。
Shortly after we met, Warren Buffett loaned me this collection of New Yorker business articles from the 1950s and 1960s. I loved them as much as he did. Brooks’s insights about business have aged beautifully, and they are as true today as ever. I still go back to this book from time to time, and this year I had a chance to re-read the chapter on Xerox (which you can download free). Business Adventures is a neglected classic, and it’s still my favorite business book ever.
沃倫·巴菲特和我在短暫會面後，他借了我這本集合了《紐約客》20世紀50年代到60年代財經文章的合訂本。我和他一樣喜歡這些文章。布魯斯關於商業的見解經過了時間的洗禮依舊意義非凡，而且在今天依然適用。我仍然一次又一次地溫習這本書，而且在今年我得以重讀到了“施樂”這一章節（你可以從網上免費下載到）。《商業冒險》是一本被忽視的經典，而且仍然是我最喜歡的財經書籍。
Capital in the Twenty-First Century, by Thomas Piketty.
托馬斯·皮克迪的《21世紀的資本》。
Capital sparked a fantastic global discussion this year about inequality. Piketty kindly spent an hour discussing his work with me before I finished my review. As I told him, although I have concerns about some of his secondary points and policy prescriptions, I agree with his most important conclusions: inequality is a growing problem and that governments should play a role in reducing it. I admire his work and hope it draws in more smart people to study the causes of, and cures for, inequality.
這本書在今年掀起了一場激烈的關於不平等問題的全球範圍大討論。在我寫完綜述前，皮克迪貼心的花了一個小時和我討論他的著作。就像我和他說的那樣，雖然我對他的一些次要觀點和政策評估表示擔憂，我依然同意他最重要的那個結論：不平等問題還在擴大，而且政府必須出面解決它。我讚美了他的著作，並希望它可以吸引更多聰明人來研究不平等問題的原因還有根治的方法。
How Asia Works, by Joe Studwell.
喬·史塔威爾的《亞洲大趨勢》
Studwell produces compelling answers to two of the greatest questions in development economics: How did countries like Japan, South Korea, and China achieve sustained, high growth? And why have so few other countries managed to do so? His answers come in the form of a simple—and yet hard to execute—formula: (1) create conditions for small farmers to thrive, (2) use the proceeds from agricultural surpluses to build a manufacturing base focused on exports, and (3) nurture both these sectors with financial institutions closely controlled by the government. The agriculture section of the book was particularly insightful. It provided ample food for thought for me as well as the whole Agriculture team at our foundation. And it left us thinking about whether parts of the Asian model can apply in Africa.
史塔威爾給出了發展中國家經濟兩大問題的可信答案：為何像日本、韓國和中國這樣的國家得以實現持續的，快速的經濟增長？為什麼別的國家無法做到？他的回答給出了一個簡單的答案——而且很難執行——公式化：（1）為小農戶創造繁榮條件，（2）用農業盈餘的收益去搭建出口製造基地，還有（3）政府緊密監管下的金融機構來雙管齊下。書中農業的部分非常有見解。它為我和整個我們的農業團隊提供了充足的精神食糧。也讓我們思考，是否這種亞洲模式亦適用於非洲。
The Rosie Effect, by Graeme Simsion.
蓋瑞梅·西蒙森的《羅茜效應》
The hilarious follow-up to The Rosie Project, one of the best novels I’ve read in ages. There’s no sophomore slump here. Simsion brings back some of the best characters and gags from the first novel while also bringing in enough new elements to keep it fresh. It’s a funny novel that also made me think about relationships: what makes them work and how we have to keep investing time and energy to make them better. A sweet, entertaining, and thought-provoking book.
這本《羅茜計劃》的搞笑後續是我這幾年讀過的最棒的小說。第二部依然精彩。西蒙森帶回了第一部小說裡最棒的人物，而且也為了讓它更有意思加入了足夠多的新元素。這是一本很有趣的小說，也讓我對於人際關係有了思考：是什麼促使他們運作，我們應該如何花時間和精力使得一切變得更好。這是一本可愛的，很有娛樂性又讓人深思的書。
Making the Modern World: Materials and Dematerialization, by Vaclav Smil.
茨拉夫·斯米爾的《創建當代世界:材料及去材料化》
One of Smil’s books makes my list of favorites pretty much every year. This time it’s his look at the world’s use of materials, from silicon to wood to plastic and cement. If anyone tries to tell you we’re using fewer materials, send him this book. With his usual skepticism and his love of data, Smil shows how our ability to make things with less material—say, soda cans that need less aluminum—makes them cheaper, which actually encourages more production. We’re using more stuff than ever.
每一年斯米爾的書都在我的最愛榜上有名。這一次，他的這本書講述的是世界材料的用法——從硅到木頭到塑料到水泥。如果有人試圖告訴你，我們已經不怎麼用到材料了，就把這本書糊他臉上。懷著一貫的懷疑論還有數據狂愛，斯米爾展示了我們如何用更少的材料來製作物品——比如說少用鋁的汽水罐——讓它們產量更多而且還更便宜。我們比以往用的材料都要多。
