2011《财富》最愚蠢商业事件大盘点（上）

联邦储备银行行长的iPad通胀论

    食品价格上涨幅度接近3%？汽车价格上涨28%？别担心！

    无论这些指标跟普通大众的联系多么密切，经济学家衡量通货膨胀时，通常都会刨除这些成分。

    今年三月，纽约联邦储备银行（Federal Reserve Bank of New York）行长威廉•杜德利试图向纽约皇后区的工薪阶层解释这些问题，结果却搞砸了。

    据路透社（Reuters）报道，杜德利说：“今天，你可以用购买iPad 1的价钱购买iPad 2，但是其功能却是iPad 1的两倍。我们需要考虑所有商品的价格。”

    在场的一位听众大声反驳：“可是iPad不能当饭吃！”——安娜莲•沈士奇

    译者：阿龙/乔树静

What inflation? Just buy an iPad

    Food prices up nearly 3%? Gas prices up 28%? Not to worry!

    When economists measure inflation they often like to strip out these choppy components, no matter how relevant they are to folks on Main Street.

    New York Fed President William Dudley was trying to explain this to a working class crowd in Queens, N.Y. in March, but instead, he kind of blew it.

    "Today you can buy an iPad 2 that costs the same as an iPad 1 that is twice as powerful," he said. "You have to look at the prices of all things," Reuters reported.

    An audience member hollered back, "I can't eat an iPad!" -- Annalyn