Free exchange--Winning bids 

The Nobel prize for economics rewards advances in auction theory 

经济学人10月刊

up主：上海的车牌拍卖和北京的车牌摇号是非常典型的资源分配采用不同模式。

Much like Mr Roth, who helped design market mechanisms to match sick patients with kidney donors, Messrs Milgrom and Wilson put the knowledge gained from their theoretical work to practical use. Before the early 1990S, America’s government used unwieldy methods to allocate portions of the radio spectrum to interested telecoms companies. Bidders either explained why they deserved a slice of spectrum more than others (and spent vast sums of money on lobbying), or were allocated slices through lotteries. Neither led to an efficient allocation. In 1993 Congress allowed the Federal Communications Commission to use auctions instead. Yet it was not clear how these might work. Bidders had wildly varying assessments of how slices of spectrum might be used, and the value of one piece of spectrum often depended critically on what other parts an owner also controlled. The laureates worked with another economist, Preston McAfee, now at Google, to invent a new format, known as the “simultaneous multiple-round auction” (smRA). Participants may bid on all items in a number of rounds, after each of which some information about bids and prices is revealed to the bidders. When first used in 1994, smRA raised $617m for an American government that had previously earned almost nothing from its distributions of spectrum rights.

Unwieldy  adj. /ʌnˈwiːldi/  1.( 东西 ) 笨重的；笨拙的；不灵巧的 2.( 体制或团体 )  难控制（或操纵、管理）的；运转不灵的；尾大不掉的

radio spectrum 无线电频谱 spectrum  n. /ˈspektrəm/ 光谱、范围、频谱

Lobby：n，大厅，游说，游说团体 v，进行游说~ (sb) (for/against sth) 游说（从政者或政府）•Farmers will lobby Congress for higher subsidies. 农民将游说国会提高对农业的补贴。

Laureate /ˈlɒriət/  1.荣誉获得者；获奖者 •a Nobel laureate 诺贝尔奖获得者

simultaneous multiple-round auction：同步多轮竞拍

simultaneous  adj. /ˌsɪmlˈteɪniəs/  同时发生（或进行）的；同步的 • There were several simultaneous attacks by the rebels. 反叛者同时发动了几起攻击。·simultaneous translation/interpreting 同声传译

smRA-style auctions are now used routinely in many countries and in contexts other than spectrum sales--in selling electricity, for instance. Questions of distribution have continued to motivate the prizewinners’ research and led to the development of other specialised auction formats. Messrs Milgrom and Wilson became the embodiment of the economist as engineer, using theory to devise a solution to a practical problem. It is an approach Sweden’s Royal Academy of Science seems to admire. This year’s award is the third since 2007 to honour “mechanism design”, or the use of economic principles to design markets to solve real-world problems.

embodiment  n. /ɪmˈbɒdimənt/  ~ of sth （体现一种思想或品质的）典型，化身 • He is the embodiment of the young successful businessman. 他是成功青年企业家的典型。

devise  v. /dɪˈvaɪz/  to invent sth new or a new way of doing sth 发明；设计；想出 devise a solution：设计解决问题模式

The economist’s lot

The pursuit of economics as a form of engineering means that Messrs Milgrom and Wilson are more enmeshed in the real world than the typical academic. Both have consulted for regulators and firms. Mr Milgrom advised Time Warner and Comcast on their participation in radio-spectrum auctions in 2006; his efforts helped save his clients more than $ibn. In 2009 he co-founded a firm, Auctionomics, that provides consulting services to those looking to operate and to bid in auctions (many of the sort designed by the prizewinners).

Enmesh  v. /ɪnˈmeʃ/  ~ sb/sth (in sth)  使陷入，使卷入（困境等） 常用被动语态

Time Warner：时代华纳     Comcast 康卡斯特（美国最大的有线系统公司）

It is a different sort of work from that which many aspiring scholars imagine themselves to be pursuing. But the rewards the laureates have reaped in academia and beyond certainly advertise the power wielded by economic engineers.

aspiring  adj./əˈspaɪərɪŋ/ 1. 渴望从事…的；有志成为…的•Aspiring musicians need hours of practice every day. 想当音乐家就要每天练许多小时。 2.有抱负的；有志向的•He came from an aspiring working-class background. 他出身于有抱负的工人阶级家庭

Reap  v./riːp/  1. 取得（成果）；收获 •They are now reaping the rewards of all their hard work. 现在，他们的全部辛劳都得到了回报。 2. 收割（庄稼）；收获

IDIOMS 习语

1. REAP A/THE ˈHARVEST 享受成果；承担后果；种瓜得瓜，种豆得豆

2. YOU ˌREAP WHAT YOU ˈSOW 种瓜得瓜，种豆得豆

wield  v. /wiːld/  1. 拥有，运用，行使，支配（权力等）•She wields enormous power within the party. 她操纵着党内大权。 2. 挥，操，使用（武器、工具等）•He was wielding a large knife. 他挥舞着一把大刀。

译文

Much like Mr Roth, who helped design market mechanisms to match sick patients with kidney donors, Messrs Milgrom and Wilson put the knowledge gained from their theoretical work to practical use. Before the early 1990S, America’s government used unwieldy methods to allocate portions of the radio spectrum to interested telecoms companies. Bidders either explained why they deserved a slice of spectrum more than others (and spent vast sums of money on lobbying), or were allocated slices through lotteries. Neither led to an efficient allocation. In 1993 Congress allowed the Federal Communications Commission to use auctions instead. Yet it was not clear how these might work. Bidders had wildly varying assessments of how slices of spectrum might be used, and the value of one piece of spectrum often depended critically on what other parts an owner also controlled. The laureates worked with another economist, Preston McAfee, now at Google, to invent a new format, known as the “simultaneous multiple-round auction” (smRA). Participants may bid on all items in a number of rounds, after each of which some information about bids and prices is revealed to the bidders. When first used in 1994, smRA raised $617m for an American government that had previously earned almost nothing from its distributions of spectrum rights.

Messrs Milgrom和Wilson很像Roth先生，一位为病人和肾脏捐献者匹配设计了市场机制匹配模式。他俩也将自己理论知识运用实际。90年代初期以前，美国政府运用笨拙的方式为感兴趣的电信公司分配无线电频谱。竞价人要么要求解释为什么自己是更合适的公司（当然也要花大量的金钱游说），要么全靠抽奖分配，两者都没有做到有效分配。1993年国会准许联邦通信委员会采用拍卖模式分配。但是它如何运作未知，当时的竞价者对频段的用途评估各种各样，而且频段的价值非常依赖买家自己手上的其他频段。获奖者与另一位经济学家一起工作，Preston McAfee，现在在google，共同发明了同步多轮竞拍（smRA）。参拍者可以多轮竞拍所有拍卖标的，之后所有标的及竞价都将公开给竞拍者。1994年第一次使用‘同步多轮竞拍’就为美国政府筹集6.17亿美元，而以前分配频段没产生任何效益。

smRA-style auctions are now used routinely in many countries and in contexts other than spectrum sales--in selling electricity, for instance. Questions of distribution have continued to motivate the prizewinners’ research and led to the development of other specialised auction formats. Messrs Milgrom and Wilson became the embodiment of the economist as engineer, using theory to devise a solution to a practical problem. It is an approach Sweden’s Royal Academy of Science seems to admire. This year’s award is the third since 2007 to honour “mechanism design”, or the use of economic principles to design markets to solve real-world problems.

同步多轮竞拍现今被多国广泛应用，不仅仅是频段拍卖，例如电力分配。分配的问题推动诺奖获得者持续研究，从而促进其他特殊拍卖形式的发展。Messrs Milgrom 与 Wilson成为“经济学家既工程师”的化身，运用理论设计实际问题的解决方法。瑞典皇家科学院似乎对此种途径情有独钟。这已经是诺奖第三次为“机制设计”方面颁奖，或者说是为用经济法则设计市场机制来解决现实世界问题的研究成果进行颁奖。

The economist’s lot

The pursuit of economics as a form of engineering means that Messrs Milgrom and Wilson are more enmeshed in the real world than the typical academic. Both have consulted for regulators and firms. Mr Milgrom advised Time Warner and Comcast on their participation in radio-spectrum auctions in 2006; his efforts helped save his clients more than $ibn. In 2009 he co-founded a firm, Auctionomics, that provides consulting services to those looking to operate and to bid in auctions (many of the sort designed by the prizewinners).

经济学家的命运

追求经济学工程化意味着Messrs Milgrom 与 Wilson更贴近现实社会而不是学术世界。两者都为监管者和公司提供咨询。2006年，Milgrom为时代华纳和康卡斯特（美国最大的有线系统公司）参加无线电频段竞拍提供过咨询；他为他的客户节省超过十亿美元的支出。2009年，他联合创办了Auctionomics公司为需求方提供运营、拍卖咨询方案（大部分这些方案由得奖人设计）。

It is a different sort of work from that which many aspiring scholars imagine themselves to be pursuing. But the rewards the laureates have reaped in academia and beyond certainly advertise the power wielded by economic engineers.

这种工作有别于许多有抱负的学者设想的毕生追求。但他们的学术成就及其他回报明确彰显了经济工程学所操控的能量。