36 · 政府的开支
The Cost of Government
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If a nation is essentially disunited, it is left to the government to hold it together. This increases the expense of government, and reduces correspondingly the amount of economic resources that could be used for developing the country.And it should not be forgotten how small those resources are in a poor and backward country. Where the cost of government is high, resources for development are correspondingly low.
This may be illustrated by comparing the position of a nation with that of a private business enterprise. An enterprise has to incur certain costs and expenses in order to stay in business. For our purposes, we are concerned only with one kind of cost—the cost of managing and administering the business. Such administrative overheads in a business are analogous to the cost of government in a nation. The administrative overheads of a business are low to the extent that everyone working in the business can be trusted to behave in a way that best promotes the interests of the firm. If they can each be trusted to take such responsibilities, and to exercise such initiative as falls within their sphere, then administrative overheads will be low. It will be low because it will be necessary to have only one man looking after each job, without having another man to check upon what he is doing, keep him in line, and report on him to someone else. But if no one can be trusted to act in a loyal and responsible manner towards his job, then the business will require armies of administrators, checkers, and foremen, and administrative overheads will rise correspondingly. As administrative overheads rise, so the earnings of the business after meeting the expense of administration, will fall; and the business will have less money to distribute as dividends or invest directly in its future progress and development.
It is precisely the same with a nation. To the extent that the people can be relied upon to behave in a loyal and responsible manner, the government does not require armies of police and civil servants to keep them in order. But if a nation is disunited, the government cannot be sure that the actions of the people will be in the interests of the nation; and it will have to watch, check, and control the people accordingly. A disunited nation therefore has to incur unduly high costs of government.
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If a nation is essentially disunited, it is left to the government to hold it together. This increases the expense of government, and reduces correspondingly the amount of economic resources that could be used for developing the country.And it should not be forgotten how small those resources are in a poor and backward country. Where the cost of government is high, resources for development are correspondingly low.
This may be illustrated by comparing the position of a nation with that of a private business enterprise. An enterprise has to incur certain costs and expenses in order to stay in business. For our purposes, we are concerned only with one kind of cost—the cost of managing and administering the business. Such administrative overheads in a business are analogous to the cost of government in a nation. The administrative overheads of a business are low to the extent that everyone working in the business can be trusted to behave in a way that best promotes the interests of the firm. If they can each be trusted to take such responsibilities, and to exercise such initiative as falls within their sphere, then administrative overheads will be low. It will be low because it will be necessary to have only one man looking after each job, without having another man to check upon what he is doing, keep him in line, and report on him to someone else. But if no one can be trusted to act in a loyal and responsible manner towards his job, then the business will require armies of administrators, checkers, and foremen, and administrative overheads will rise correspondingly. As administrative overheads rise, so the earnings of the business after meeting the expense of administration, will fall; and the business will have less money to distribute as dividends or invest directly in its future progress and development.
It is precisely the same with a nation. To the extent that the people can be relied upon to behave in a loyal and responsible manner, the government does not require armies of police and civil servants to keep them in order. But if a nation is disunited, the government cannot be sure that the actions of the people will be in the interests of the nation; and it will have to watch, check, and control the people accordingly. A disunited nation therefore has to incur unduly high costs of government.
如果一个国家内部根本不团结，就只能靠政府把它维系在一起。这样会增加政府开支，相应压缩可用于国家发展的经济资源。别忘了，在贫穷落后的国家，这些资源本来就十分有限。政府管理成本越高，可用于发展的资源便越少。
把国家与一家私营企业作比较，就能说明这一点。企业为了维持经营，必须承担一定的成本和支出。这里，我们只讨论其中一种：经营和管理企业的费用。企业的这类行政管理费用，类似于国家的政府管理成本。如果企业里的每个人都值得信任，都会采取最有利于公司利益的行动，管理费用就会较低。如果人人都能在职责范围内承担责任、发挥主动性，管理费用就不高，因为每项工作只需一人负责，不必再安排一个人检查、约束他，再向别人汇报他的情况。反过来，如果没有人能够忠实、负责地对待工作，企业就需要大批管理人员、检查人员和领班，管理费用也会相应增加。管理费用越高，扣除这些费用后的收益就越少；企业可用于分红，或直接投入未来发展的钱，也就越少。
国家的道理完全相同。如果人民值得信赖，能够忠诚、负责地行事，政府便不需要大批警察和公务员来维持秩序。但如果一个国家内部不团结，政府就无法确信人民的行为会符合国家利益，因此不得不加强监督、检查和控制。所以，一个不团结的国家，必然要承担过高的政府管理成本。
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