In the context of Japan’s very low fertility where mostwomen have only one child, it may become crucial for their first or only child to be of thegender they desire. Because today’s reproductive technologies can hypothetically give parents the ability to controlthe gender of their offspring, with the presence of daughter preference it islikely that individuals will turn to such technologies to ensure daughters.Therefore, gender preference for children in a low fertility nation needs to be addressed for itspotential demographic consequences as well as its implications for ethical issues and humanrights concerns.在日本生育力非常低下的情况下，大多数妇女只有一个孩子，于是她们第一个或可能是唯一的小孩的性别是其所期望的性别就会得至关重要。因为现今的生殖技术可以使父母有能力控制其后代的性别，有女儿偏好的父母就可能会求助于这种技术来保证得到女儿。这样的话，在一个低生育力的国家里，就需要解决孩子的性别选择这一问题，从而避免潜在的人口以及伦理和人权方面的问题。

Nixon: the great orator who was still acrook尼克松：卓越的演讲家，还是骗子？

“I am not a crook.”Richard Nixon resigned as president of the US 40 years ago this week, and ofall the things he said in his political career this quote is the one that liveson. He did also popularise the phrase “the silent majority”, although it is seldomattributed to him.

40年前的这个星期，尼克松卸任总统。“我不是骗子”，这是他在其政治生涯中唯一留存下来的一句话。他也曾让“沉默的大多数”这短语广为人知，尽管很少有人知道这是他的原话。

To state theobvious: we remember the first quote because it seems to us in hindsight to have beenso audacious a lie.It takes its place with “I did not have sexual relations with that woman, MissLewinsky” (another US president, Bill Clinton) and the promise to “cut out thecancer of bent and twisted journalism in our country with the simple sword oftruth and the trusty shield of British fair play”, by a man jailed afteradmitting perjuryand perverting the courseof justice (Nixon biographer Jonathan Aitken).说句显而易见的话，我们之所以记住了前一个短语，是因为事后我们想起来这是个多么大胆的谎言。和这句话媲美的还有“我没有和莱温斯基小姐发生性关系”（来自另位总统，克林顿）和承诺“以简单的真理之剑和英国式公平竞争的信任之盾，切除腐败扭曲的新闻业之癌”，说这话的人在承认伪证罪和妨碍司法公正罪之后被投入监狱，他就是尼克松传记的作者乔纳森•艾特肯(Jonathan Aitken)。。

But in the moment it was uttered, it is reasonable toassume it would have been pretty effective as a piece of rhetoric. “I am not acrook” is a special use of ethos (the speaker’s connection with the audience).Logically speaking, it is redundant: if you are accused of X, to say X isuntrue is to deny, rather than to disprove, the charge. But by adding thebarefaced lie to the mixyou raise the stakes. It puts doubt in your audience’s mind. Indignationsounds – even though it is not – like evidence of innocence.但是在这句话被说出时，人们可以合理地假定它作为外交辞令是有效的，“我不是骗子”是有其精神上的特殊效用的，即发言者与观众间的联系。而从逻辑上说，这是多余的。如果你被指控犯有A罪，宣称A是假的这是在否认，而不是在证明判决是无效的。再加上一句厚颜无耻的谎言，你就加大了赌注。这让观众心中增加了不确定性。愤慨听上去是，即使它不是，像是无辜的证明。

Something in all of us resists believing that people canlook into a camera, or into our eyes, and shamelessly fib. Hitler argued that“the big lie” was effective with ordinary people because it “would never comeinto their heads to fabricate colossal untruths, and they would not believethat others could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously”. Cananyone think that the fierceness of Lance Armstrong’s repeated doping denialswas not part of what kept his lie afloat for so long? 在我们所有人心中，有些东西是我们拒绝相信的，那就是有些人竟然可以看着镜头，或是直视我们的眼睛，毫无愧色地撒谎。希特勒曾宣称，“弥天大谎”对普通人有效用，因为普通人从未撒过大谎，且他们也无法相信有人能无耻到扭曲事实的境地。请想想，要不是阿姆斯特朗几次强烈的否认吸毒，又怎会让谎言持续这么久呢？

When a top CEO quits to be a better dad it’sa giant leap forward for women execs 为照顾家庭，男性CEO开始辞职

When Today Showhost Matt Lauer sat down with General Motors’ CEO Mary Barra in late June, heasked the automaker’s first female leader:

6月底时，《今日秀》的主持人 Matt Lauer访问了通用汽车的CEO Mary，他问了这位汽车制造商的首位女性领导人如下问题：

“You said in aninterview not long ago that your kids said they’re going to hold youaccountable for one job, and that is being a mom. Given the pressure at GeneralMotors, can you do both well?”“你曾在不久前一次采访中称，你的孩子们说他们要你为一项工作负责。那就是作好一位母亲。再加上通用汽车给你的压力，你能够同时做好两项工作吗？”

Barra graciouslyanswered the question, telling Lauer that she has a great team, a wonderfulfamily and a supportive husband. Notably, she didn’t turn that question back onLauer to ask how he handles his demanding work schedule at NBC and still manages to be a goodfather.玛丽优雅地回答了问题，告诉劳尓她有一个了不起的团队，一个很棒的家庭以及支持她的丈夫。值得注意的是，她并没有将同样的问题回敬给劳尓，问劳尔他是如何在做一个好父亲的同时，处理他在NBC的苛刻的工作安排。

Male executivesalmost never hear that question. MongoDB’s now-former CEO Max Schireson canattest to that.男性经理人几乎从没听到这样的问题。这一点，mangoDB的刚刚离职的CEO 马克斯可以证明这一点。

China's real estate malaise drags on ashome prices fall again中国楼市低迷，房价下跌

China’s housingbubble continued to deflate in July, with a third straight monthly decline inthe price of new homes.中国的楼市泡沫继续萎靡，房价连续3个月下跌。

The National Bureau of Statisticssaid average prices across 70 large and medium-sized cities fell by 0.9% in themonth, an acceleration from drops of 0.2% in May and 0.5% in June. It saidprices fell in 64 of the cities surveyed.国家统计局称，70个大中型城市的房价在7月平均下跌0.9%，较之五月份的0.2%、六月份的0.5%，跌幅更为严重。在全部被调查城市中，64个城市的房价出现下跌。

The figures comeonly a few days after the central bank announced a sharp drop in the amount ofnew loans being given by Chinese banks in July, a development that it put down to banks tryingto reduce exposure to real estate and tighten their risk management standards.在这组数据公布的前几天，央行宣布了6月份中国银行放出的新贷款的总量出现了急剧下跌，央行将其归因于银行试图减少房产的贷款，提高了其风险控制标准。

 Yearsof easy money have fueled a massive construction boom across the country, ashundreds of millions of workers have migrated to the cities from thecountryside. But there have been increasing signs this year that the supply ofnew housing has outstripped demand, leaving banks sitting on a lot of loans todevelopers that have turnedsour.随着数亿的劳动力从乡村移居城市，几年来房地产一直是暴利，于是引发了大规模的建房潮。但是今年里不断增多的迹象表明，新住宅供应量已经远超需求量，这让银行借给开发商的大量资金成为了不良贷款。

The authorities have tried to address the problem by leaning on thecountry’s largest banks to increase their buffers against potential losses.They have also approved the creation of ‘bad banks’ in five regions where thehousing bubble was most inflated, with a view to transferring bad loans out ofthe banking system, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday.当局试图这样解决问题：依赖于国家的最大的银行来增加资本缓冲，应对潜在的损失。据华尔街日报周一报道，中国的当局也批准了在五个房产泡沫最为严重的地区设立“坏帐银行”，以清理银行帐目上的不良贷款。

In year-on-year terms, prices were still up by 2.5%, butthe rate of increase has slowed from nearly 10% at the start of the year.与去年同期相比，房价仍上升了2.5%，但自今年年初以来，房价的上涨速度相较以往下降了10%。

China’s government is targeting growth of around 7.5%this year, but the rate slowed substantially in the first quarter as theeconomy struggled with the government’s top priority of rebalancing it away from exports to domestic consumption. Thegovernment and central bank then enacted a range of stimulus measures that appeared to reviveactivity, and factory output was on the rise again by June.中国政府将今年的增长目标定为7.5%左右，但在第一季度由于政府将工作重心从出口调整为内销，经济增长速度大幅减少。政府与央行颁布了一系列刺激措施，似乎促进了经济复苏，6月份制造业产出重获增长。

However, evidence of weakness still continues to come infrom a number of areas, and Reuters reported Monday that foreign direct investmenthit a two-year low in July. In addition to the economic slowdown, investorsentiment has also suffered from a number of territorial disputes with its neighbors, which areall big investors into China. Also, the country’s antitrust authorities are increasingly flexingtheir muscles in an effort to stop what they see as price gouging by foreign companies.

但是，经济疲软的症状仍然出现在很多领域，路透社本周一时报道，中国的外商直接投资创造了两年内的最低。除了经济下行，投资者情绪也由于中国与邻国的领土争端而受到影响，这些投资者都是大投资商。同时，中国的反垄断机构也在提高执法力度，打击外国公司哄抬物价的行为。

8门能帮你致富的课程

Is it commonknowledge that school doesn't prepare you well for the real world? 学校不能帮你做好应对真实社会的准备，这是否已成为人之共识？

Sure, you can get agood degree, find a well-paying job, work until you're in your 60s, and thenretire to enjoy the life you've deferred for 40 years. However, that may notprove to be a successful life, a secure life, a financially sound life. A lot will depend on youroutlook and your goals but know this: School doesn't prepare you well forachieving wealth or becoming an entrepreneur and it downright fails at teaching you how to berich.当然，你可以获得一个好的学历，找到一份高薪工作，一直工作到60岁，然后退休享受生活，享受这推延了40年的生活。但是，这并不能保证你过上成功的生活，安全的、财力雄厚的生活。你要明白，在获得财富或是成为企业家方面，学校并不能教你很多，也就是说在教你如何富有方面，学校彻底的失败了。

Nevertheless,school is here to stay. For now. Thus, it helps to identify which classes arethe most relevant and helpful for those of us looking to become richentrepreneurs. There are, in fact, several courses that contain criticalinformation and instruction that, if used correctly, will put you on your pathto riches.然而，学校已经扎根了。暂时是这样的。因此，对于想要成为富有的企业家来说，学校能够帮助选择什么课程是最相关的、有用的课程。事实上，有一些课程包含了很重要的信息和介绍，如果运用正确，可以助你走上财富之路。

Accounting

Although this list is in no particular order, I thinkAccounting is, by far, the most important course to take if you want to succeedfinancially. Today's "credit crunch" illustrates that there are toomany people who do not understand a balance sheet. Someone who walks into BestBuy and pays for a 47-inch plasmatelevision with a credit card does not comprehend the difference between anasset and a liability.

会计学

尽管这份清单并没有特别的顺序，但我认为会计学是目前为止最重要的课程，如果你想在财务上取得成功的话。今天的“信贷危机”说明了有太多人不懂得资产负债表。一些人走进百思买，用信用卡买了台47英寸的等离子电视，然而并不懂得资产与负债的区别。

Learning the difference between assets and liabilities,as well as concepts like inventory and cash flow, is essential if you intend onkeeping your finances in order. Moreover, these concepts are crucial if youwant to start your own business. The health of a business is reflected in its balancesheet and financial statement. As those numbers go, so does the business. Accounting will help youunderstand that cash flow is what helps a business succeed, and it is whathelps you as an individual succeed.学会资产与负债的区别，以及库存和现金流的概念，对于保持好你的财务状况是至关重要的。并且，如果你想开创自己的事业，懂得这些概念非常重要。生意的好坏会在资产负债表和财务报表中反映出来。如果这些数字不好看，那生意也不会太好。会计可以帮助你懂得现金流是帮助生意成功的，进而帮助个人获得成功。

Marketing

If you intend on making money from selling something(which, incidentally, is how any business makes money), then you need to learnhow to find the right product. Marketing, in and of itself, is not selling. However, ithelps you learn how to promote certain products and services. By takingMarketing, you can understand the process involved in figuring out what consumers want,focusing on a product that satisfies those desires, and the attempt at movingconsumers toward that product.

Too often, products fail because their creators didn'tbother to learn whether a market existed for that product. This processinvolves research and time , but, in the end, it can save a business thousands,if not millions, of dollars. As an entrepreneur, it can also save you valuabletime and money. Find the market first, and then develop the product.

营销

如果你想通过售卖东西（这也是绝大多数公司赚钱的方式）来赚到钱，那你需要学习如何找到正确的产品。营销，从本质而言，并非销售。但是，它帮助你学到如何推销某产品和服务。通过学习营销，你能懂得包括弄清消费者想要什么产品、专注于能够满足这些需求的特定产品、并试着让消费者对这产品有购买的欲望等过程。

由于生产者未去了解产品是否有市场就生产，常造成产品不畅销。这个调研过程需要研究和时间，但到最后，它可以帮整个生意节省几千、甚至几百万美元。作为一名企业家，它能帮你节省时间和金钱。先找到市场，然后开发产品。

Economics

Understanding the production, distribution, andconsumption of goods and services is essential if you want to take a bigpicture approach to business and investing. The current state of the U.S.economy is a combination of various factors (i.e.consumer over-spending,speculative real estate investing, fragile lending practices, a weakeningdollar, low supply of oil, etc).

经济学

如果你想了解生意和投资的全貌，那懂得产品和服务的生产、分销、消费是至关重要的。现阶段的美国是各种因素的结合体（比如过度消费、房地产的过度投机投资、脆弱的借款机制、正在疲软的美元、石油供应的短缺等）。

If you understand how the economy got to the point whereit is today, it helps you identify where your money should be. You can pick outthe right investments and turn away from the bad ones. You can identify whichdirection your business should go in, including whether to take advantage ofcertain trends or cut out excessinventory.如果你了解经济是如何发展的，你就能明确自己如何投资。你能找到正确的投资，避开不好的投资。你能明辨生意该往何处去，包括能否紧跟潮流囤货还是减少库存。

Economics is a vital ingredient in a person's financialeducation. The world is now a global marketplace, and the supply and demand ofgoods and services operate at that level.经济学是个人财务教育的重要组成部分。世界现在是一个全球性的市场，对商品、服务的供应和需求都在这个大市场中进行。

Finance

Finance helps you understand how the time value of moneyworks and how various investment vehicles operate. One of the keys to becomingrich is comprehending how money works when it's not in your hands. A financecourse (preferably one gearedtowards entrepreneurship) will teach you what you need to know to reachthis level of understanding. There might be some math involved, but it won'tkill you. It'll just make you a stronger and more savvy investor.

金融学

金融可以帮你了解金钱的时间价值和不同机构的运行方式。成为富人的关键一点是懂得，当金钱不在你手上时，它是如何工作的。金融课程，最好是有关如何管理企业的课程，将教会你如何达到这个理解层次。这门课程可能会需要一些数学，但它不会太难。相反，它将让你成为更强、更有悟性的投资人。