巴菲特應嚴肅回答可口可樂問題

In his annual letter to shareholders, Warren Buffett said the first-ever webcast of Berkshire Hathaway’s annual meeting would allow them to check that he and Charlie Munger, his business partner, “hadn’t drifted off into la-la land”.

沃倫•巴菲特(Warren Buffett)在致投資者的年度信件中表示，伯克希爾哈撒韋(Berkshire Hathaway)年會在歷史上首次網絡直播將讓他們確信，他和商業合作伙伴查理•孟格(Charlie Munger)“沒有進入昏昏沉沉的狀態”。

The webcast on Saturday confirmed that Mr Buffett, 85, and Mr Munger, 92, were entirely cogent as they conducted the event while nibbling fudge and peanut brittle and sipping Coca-Cola.

最近現場直播的股東大會證實了85歲的巴菲特和92歲的孟格仍然思路清晰，他們一邊主持大會，一邊小口吃着軟糖和花生糖，啜飲着可口可樂。

Many shareholders had queries about Coca-Cola, which is 9.3 per cent owned by Berkshire Hathaway. Andrew Ross Sorkin, the author, asked the questions on their behalf. Mr Buffett was opposed to investing in cigarettes, even though they were addictive and profitable because of “societal attitudes”. Yet a Tufts University study had concluded that sugared drinks may lead to an estimated 184,000 adult deaths a year. Mr Sorkin said: “Please explain directly why we Berkshire Hathaway shareholders should be proud to own Coke.”

許多股東對伯克希爾哈撒韋持有可口可樂公司(Coca-Cola) 9.3%股份有疑慮。作家安德魯•羅斯•索爾金(Andrew Ross Sorkin)代表這些股東提出了質疑。巴菲特出於“社會態度”反對投資香菸，即便它們讓人上癮而且非常賺錢。然而，塔夫斯大學(Tufts University)的一項研究得出結論稱，據估計含糖飲料每年可能導致18.4萬成年人死亡。索爾金表示：“請直接解釋我們伯克希爾哈撒韋股東爲什麼應該對擁有可口可樂感到自豪。”

Mr Buffett said he consumed 700 calories of Coke a day. He wished he had a twin who had eaten only broccoli his entire life. “I know I would have been happier and I think the odds are fairly good I would have lived longer,” he said.

巴菲特表示，他一天喝含700卡路里的可口可樂。他希望自己有個一生只吃西蘭花的孿生兄弟，他說：“我知道我將會更快樂，而且我認爲自己更長壽的機率相當高。”

Coke drinkers just needed to reduce the rest of their calorie intake. In any case, many more women than men lived beyond 100. If you wanted to live longer, “have a sex change,” he said. This insouciant response was wrong for five reasons.

喝可樂的人只需要削減他們從其他食物攝入的卡路里就行了。無論如何，100歲以上的女性比男性多得多。他說，如果你希望活得更長久些，“不如去變性”。這種漫不經心的迴應是錯誤的，原因有如下5點。

First, the shareholders had asked a serious question. They deserved more than being laughed off.

首先，股東問的是一個嚴肅的問題。他們的問題不應被一笑置之。

Second, not everyone is as adept as Mr Buffett at calculating their daily calorie intake and compensating for their Coke consumption by cutting back on other food and drink.

其次，並非所有人都和巴菲特一樣擅長計算每天攝入的卡路里熱量，併爲了喝可樂而減少其他食物和飲料的攝入。

In his letter to shareholders, Mr Buffett wrote with compassion about those who had lost their jobs because of the otherwise beneficial effects of competition and did not have the skills to find other work. Society owed them “a variety of safety nets aimed at providing a decent life”. It is many of these same people who go in search of sugar hits to satisfy their hunger. The problem is that Coke can be a particularly damaging way to do this. This is the third reason Mr Buffett’s amused shrug was wrong.

在致股東的信中，巴菲特滿懷同情心地提到那些因爲總體有益的競爭而失業、而且沒有技能找到其他工作的人。社會欠他們“多重安全網，以提供體面生活”。在這些人當中，有許多人尋找甜品來消除飢餓感。問題在於，用可口可樂來消除飢餓感尤其有害，這是巴菲特詼諧迴應是錯誤做法的第三個原因。

Researchers such as Robert Lustig of the University of California San Francisco School of Medicine say that liquid sugar is especially dangerous, partly because it suppresses hunger less than sugar ingested in other forms. That is why you are far better off eating fruit than drinking fruit juice, which is also a big seller for Coca-Cola.

加州大學舊金山醫學院(University of California San Francisco School of Medicine)的羅伯特•勒斯蒂格(Robert Lustig)等研究人員表示，液態糖尤其危險，一定程度上是因爲它消除飢餓感的效果不如以其他形式攝入的糖。這就是爲什麼你喝果汁遠遠不如吃水果的原因——可口可樂公司也在大量銷售果汁。

The fourth reason Mr Buffett should have taken the Coke question seriously is that politicians around the world are waking up to the dangers of sugared drinks and taking action against them.

巴菲特應該嚴肅對待可口可樂問題的第四個原因是，世界各地的政界人士認識到了含糖飲料的危險，並採取行動抵制含糖飲料。

In March, George Osborne, the UK chancellor, announced a tax on these drinks, saying: “I am not prepared to . . . say to my children’s generation: ‘I’m sorry. We knew there was a problem with sugary drinks. We knew it caused disease. But we ducked the difficult decisions and we did nothing.’”

今年3月，英國財政大臣喬治•奧斯本(George Osborne)宣佈對這些飲料徵稅，他表示：“我不準備……對我的下一代說：‘對不起，我們知道含糖飲料有問題。我們知道它引發了疾病。但我們迴避做出艱難決定，我們什麼也沒做。’”

Other countries, including Mexico, already have a sugar tax. There is political risk attached to fizzy drinks. A chief executive with a large stake in a company that makes them should explain how he is going to deal with it.

包括墨西哥在內的其他國家已經徵收了糖稅。含糖碳酸飲料存在政治上的風險。一名持有含糖飲料公司一大筆股權的首席執行官應該解釋他如何處理這種風險。

The fifth reason Mr Buffett’s dismissive response was wrong is that it was at odds with what the company itself says. Coca-Cola makes enormous efforts to show that it takes seriously the concerns expressed by politicians, doctors and the Berkshire Hathaway shareholders.

巴菲特不以爲然的迴應是錯誤的的第五個原因是，它與可口可樂自身的說法有牴觸。可口可樂竭力表明，它認真對待政客、醫生以及伯克希爾哈撒韋股東表達的關切。

Coke’s 69-page sustainability report has a chunky section outlining the company’s promotion of low and zero calorie drinks and of smaller cans and bottles, its restrictions on advertising to children under 12 and its sponsorship of exercise activities. When it comes to “public health challenges such as obesity, we are working to ensure we do our part,” the report said.

在可口可樂長達69頁的可持續發展報告裏，有很大一部分列舉了該公司推廣低卡和無卡飲料、推出小包裝飲料、限制向12歲以下兒童打廣告，以及贊助健身活動。該報告表示，“就解決肥胖等公衆健康挑戰來說，我們正在努力確保我們做出自己的貢獻”。

According to Muhtar Kent, Coke’s chief executive, these and other efforts, such as the responsible use of water and the promotion of opportunities for women, are the key to “sustainable business growth”.

可口可樂首席執行官穆泰康(Muhtar Kent)表示，這些努力加上其他努力，比如負責任地使用水資源以及提升婦女就業機遇，是“可持續商業增長”的關鍵。

There are sceptics who do not take these Coke activities seriously, seeing them as a cover for the continued sale of highly profitable and health-damaging drinks. Mr Buffett’s jocular response to his shareholders did little to rebut this view.

有一些人對可口可樂的這些活動不以爲然，認爲它們只不過是該公司繼續銷售高利潤率和有害健康的飲料的幌子。巴菲特對股東的詼諧迴應無助於駁斥這種觀點。