increase one's existing wealth without creating  new wealth for others. In other words, it 

增加自己現有的財富，而不為他人創造新的財富。換言之，它

describes the tendency of some people to  seek profits without doing any real work.  

描述了一些人追求利潤而不做任何實際工作的傾向。

A classic example of rent-seeking is the story  of a lord. The lord inherited a lot of land  

尋租的一個典型例子是一個領主的故事。這位領主繼承了大量的土地

and wealth and never worked a day in his life.  However, as the lord knows of another man who  

和財富，一生中從未工作過一天。 然而，由於領主知道有另一個人

has even more than him, being wealthy isn't  enough. He needs more and he has an idea.  

有比他更多的錢，光是富有還不夠。他需要更多，他有一個想法。

The lord sets up a chain across the  river that flows through his land  

領主在流經他的土地的河流上設置了一條鎖鏈

and hires a collector to charge fishermen  a fee if they want to pass through.  

並僱傭了一名收費員，如果漁民想通過，就向他們收取費用。

There is nothing productive about the chain.

這條鏈子沒有任何成效。

The lord has made no improvements to the river  and is not adding value to society in any way,  

領主沒有對河流進行任何改善，也沒有以任何方式為社會增加價值。

directly or indirectly, except for himself.  

直接或間接，除了他自己。

All he is doing is finding a way to make  money from something that used to be free.

他所做的只是找到一種方法，從過去免費的東西中賺錢。

To society there are three costs to this  

對社會而言，這有三個方面的成本

First, the direct costs . The fisherman, who now  has to pay a fee, needs to sell the fish at a  

首先，直接成本。漁民現在需要支付費用，他需要將魚以

higher price to make a living. On the market  fish become more expensive for everybody.  

更高的價格來謀生。在市場上，魚對每個人來說都變得更加昂貴。

Then the opportunity costs . The lord invests  his money and resources into equipment that  

然後是機會成本。領主將他的金錢和資源投入到設備中，而這些設備

adds no value to society , instead of  investing into something meaningful,  

對社會沒有增加任何價值，而不是投資於有意義的東西。

such as fixing up the broken school building.  

如修復破損的學校建築。

Lastly, the moral costs. The fisherman feels  that paying for something that used to be free  

最後是道德成本。漁民認為，為過去免費的東西付費

is unfair and, following the lord's example, is  more likely to engage in rent-seeking himself.  

是不公平的，而且，效仿領主的做法，自己更有可能參與尋租。

What if he were to eliminate all his  competitors and then increase prices?  

如果他要消滅所有的競爭對手，然後提高價格呢？

The fisherman turns to his friend — a smooth  talker who cares for the environment — to  

漁夫求助於他的朋友--一個關心環境的圓滑的人--以

help him convince the lord of an idea: If  a fence were to be running down the banks,  

幫助他說服領主的一個想法：如果在河岸上建一個圍欄。

it would protect the river from overfishing  because access would be limited. 

它將保護河流不被過度捕撈，因為訪問將受到限制。

When rent-seekers and moral advocates lobby  in teams, economists speak of bootleggers  

當尋租者和道德倡導者結隊遊說時，經濟學家就會說到私運者

and baptists. The lord agrees and soon  after the river is being protected.  

和施洗者。主人同意了，不久之後，河流就得到了保護。

Once the fence is built, only a few  fishermen are able to access the  

一旦柵欄建成，只有少數漁民能夠進入。

river . That means our fisherman not only has more  

河流.這意味著我們的漁民不僅有更多的

fish than ever before , but he can also  keep selling them at very high prices.  

比以前更多的魚，但他也可以繼續以非常高的價格出售它們。

To keep it that way, the fisherman and his  lobbyist soon form the fishery department  

為了保持這種狀態，漁民和他的說客們很快就組成了漁業部門

under the royal patronage of the lord . From  this day on, only those who pay a license fee  

在領主的皇家贊助下，。從這一天起，只有那些支付許可費的人

are allowed to fish in the river. The lord  gets a nice cut for his growing empire  

被允許在河裡捕魚。領主為他不斷增長的帝國獲得了豐厚的收益。

On the market the fish has become so  expensive that the commoners begin to 

在市場上，魚已經變得如此昂貴，以至於平民們開始

complain. Unfortunately  there is little they can do.  

抱怨。不幸的是，他們能做的很少。

Without ever taking notable risks  the landlord, the lobbyists,  

在不曾承擔顯著風險的情況下，房東、說客。

and the fisherman get richer every day. Or  as economists would say, without having skin  

而漁民們每天都會變得更富有。或者像經濟學家所說的那樣，在沒有皮膚的情況下

in the game, they create a lot of wealth  for themselves but no wealth for society.  

在遊戲中，他們為自己創造了大量的財富，但沒有為社會創造財富。

In theory, rent-seeking behavior reduces economic  efficiency through the misallocation of resources.  

在理論上，尋租行為通過資源的錯誤配置降低了經濟效率。

It also hinders the creation of wealth, reduces  government revenue, increases income inequality,  

它還阻礙了財富的創造，減少了政府收入，增加了收入不平等。

and potentially leads to national decline. The term itself was coined by the British  

並有可能導致國家衰落。 這個詞本身是由英國人創造的

economist David Ricardo, who had built his  ideas on the thoughts of the Scottish economist  

經濟學家大衛-李嘉圖，他在蘇格蘭經濟學家的思想基礎上建立了自己的想法。

Adam Smith. The original meaning of "rent" does  not refer specifically to payment on a lease,  

亞當-斯密。租金 "的原意並不特指租約上的付款。

but to gaining control of land  or other natural resources.  

而是為了獲得對土地或其他自然資源的控制。

In 1776 Adam Smith wrote: “As soon as the land  of any country has all become private property,  

1776年，亞當-斯密寫道："一旦任何國家的土地全部成為私有財產。

the landlords reap where they never sowed, and  demand a rent. The wood of the forest, the grass  

地主在他們從未播種的地方收割，並要求支付租金。森林裡的木頭，草

of the field, and all the natural fruits of the  earth, which, when the land was incommon, cost  

田裡的莊稼和地上的一切天然果實，在土地不常見的時候，這些果實都是要花錢的。

the laborer only the trouble of gathering them,  come, to have an additional price fixed upon them.

勞動者只有在收集它們的時候才會感到麻煩，來吧，在它們身上確定一個額外的價格。

He must then pay for a license and must give  up to the landlord a portion of what his  

然後，他必須支付許可證費用，並且必須向房東交出他的部分收入。

labor either collects or produces. This  portion constitutes the rent of land.”  

勞動收集或生產。這一部分構成了土地的租金"。

How about you, where do you see rent-seekers? 

你呢，你在哪裡看到尋租者？

Are they in your government  and in the corporations? 

他們在你的政府和企業中嗎？

Or do you see them in the streets in  the form of gangsters or corrupt police? 

還是你在街上看到他們以黑幫或腐敗警察的形式出現？

Maybe you even have your own personal story where  you seek to profit without adding any value?

也許你甚至有自己的個人故事，在那裡你尋求利潤而不增加任何價值？

This and all other Sprouts' videos are  licensed under the Creative Commons. 

本視頻和所有其他Sprouts的視頻都在知識共享協議下授權。

That means teachers from all around the world can 

這意味著來自世界各地的教師可以

use them in classrooms, online courses or to start projects - and today, thousands

在教室、在線課程或啟動項目中使用它們--而今天，成千上萬的

already do!

已經做了!

To learn how it works and download this video without Ads or background music, checkout

要了解它是如何工作的，並下載這個沒有廣告或背景音樂的視頻，請查看

our website or read the description below.

我們的網站或閱讀下面的描述。

If you want to support our mission and help change education 

如果你想支持我們的使命並幫助改變教育

visit our Patreon - that's patreon.com/sprouts.

請訪問我們的PATREON - 即patreon.com/sprouts。