财富真谛全球大不同

2012-04-11 00:00:00来源：21英语网

　　We like to think the reasons for seeking wealth are universal. Humans, by nature, like to be comfortable, like to have power and like to have the choices and freedoms offered by lots of stuff and money.
　　我们总是认为全世界的人们追求财富的原因都是一致的。从天性来讲，人们喜欢得舒适，喜欢拥有权力，喜欢由大量物质、金钱所带来的不同选择和自由。

　　Yet it turns out there are some regional variations in the meaning of wealth around the world.
　　而实际上，世界各地的人们对于财富意义的认知，也由于地域关系各不相同。

　　The new Barclay`s Wealth Insights study, released this morning from Barclay`s Wealth and Ledbury Research, finds that the emerging-market rich view wealth very differently from the older-money Europeans and the slightly less nouveaux Americans.
　　近日，由巴克莱财富和莱德伯里研究所新公布的《巴克莱财富洞察研究报告》中指出，相对于富裕史相当长的欧洲人以及富裕史略短一些的美国有钱人来说，新兴市场国家的富人们对于财富的看法非常不同。

　　The study surveyed 2,000 people from 20 countries with investible assets of $1.5 million or more. They shared some common themes: a vast majority of rich people from all regions agreed that wealth enables them to buy the best products and that wealth gives them freedom of choice in their life. Most also agreed that wealth is a reward for hard work.
　　这项研究共调查了20个国家的2000位拥有150万美元以上可投资资产的富人。他们拥有一些共识：即，来自世界各地的绝大多数富人认为，财富使他们买得起最好的产品，也使他们在生活中拥有了选择的自由。而且大多数人也认为财富是对辛勤工作的一种回报。

　　But the differences are more interesting:
　　但他们观点的差异性则更为有趣：

　　Respect-Asians and Latin Americans were more likely (49% and 47%) to say that wealth `allows me to get respect from friends and family.` Only 28% of Europeans and 38% of Americans said respect was a byproduct of wealth.
　　尊重-亚洲和拉丁美洲富人更可能（分别占49％和47％）说，财富“可以让我获得朋友和家人的尊重。”只有28％的欧洲人和38％的美国人说，获得尊重是财富带来的一种的副产品。

　　Happiness-About two thirds of Europeans and Americans said wealth made them happy. But it had a greater happiness affect in emerging markets, with 76% of Asians and Latin Americans saying wealth made them happy.
　　快乐-大约有三分之二的欧洲和美国富人说财富能给他们带来快乐。但在新兴市场国家里，财富对幸福感的影响更大，有76%的亚洲和拉丁美洲富人说财富给他们带来了快乐。

　　Role Models-Less than half of Americans and Europeans say the wealthy `set an important example to others to be successful.` That compares with 71% of Latin Americans and 61% of Asians.
　　榜样-不到一半的美国和欧洲的富人说，富人“给他人树立了获取成功的重要榜样。”相比之下，有71%的拉丁美洲以及61％％的亚洲富人也是这样认为的。

　　Spending-Wealthy Europeans are far more likely to spend their dough on travel and interior decorating. Latin Americans seem to put the highest spending priority on education, while the U.S. surges above the rest in philanthropy (which the report counts as spending).
　　花钱-欧洲的富人把钱花在旅游以及家庭布置方面的可能性大大超出其它地区的富人。拉丁美洲的富人似乎在教育方面最慷慨解囊，而美国人在慈善事业上的贡献则大大超过世界任何地区的富人。（该报告将慈善作为开支项目）。

　　We can read several things into the differences. Most obviously, the U.S. has a more formalized and tax-favorable system of philanthropy than the rest of the world. (It is too sweeping to say Americans are the most `generous.`)
　　从这些差异中我们可以读懂几个现象。最明显的是，在慈善事业方面，美国有比世界其他地区更正规且更优惠的税收制度。（说美国人最“慷慨”未免过于笼统了。）

　　What is more, the global financial crisis may have tarnished the image of the wealthy-even among the wealthy. And finally, the longer a country has wealth, the less it craves the attention and respect wealth brings.
　　还有，全球金融危机可能已损害了富人的形像，甚至在富人圈里也是如此。最后，一个国家的富裕史越长，其国人就越不渴望财富能吸引别人的眼球和敬重。

　　What patterns or explanations do you see in the regional differences?
　　你还能从这些地区差异中读出什么规律或解释呢？

本文关键字: Americans