埃隆·馬斯克（Elon Musk）的政府效率部門針對美國一分錢

多吉（Doge）在X上表示，在2023財政年度，一分錢的成本超過3美分，使美國納稅人賺了1.79億美元。

The US penny might be next on Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency chopping block.

美國便士可能是埃隆·馬斯克（Elon Musk）政府效率砍伐塊的下一個。

Musk’s DOGE said on X that the penny costs over 3 cents to make and cost US taxpayers over $179 million in the 2023 fiscal year. “The Mint produced over 4.5 billion pennies in FY2023, around 40% of the 11.4 billion coins for circulation produced,” the post said in part.

馬斯克（Musk）在X上表示，在2023財政年度，一分錢的成本超過3美分，使美國納稅人賺了1.79億美元。該帖子部分說：“造幣廠在2023財年生產了超過45億美元的便士，約有114億硬幣的發行量中的40％。”

The US Mint in 2023 reported it circulated around 4.1 billion pennies. In fiscal year 2024, the US Mint said in its annual report that the US penny costs about 3.7 cents to produce and distribute, up more than 20% from the previous year. The rising cost of metals, including zinc and copper, is part of the reason it’s getting more expensive to make the coin.

美國造幣廠在2023年報告說，它散發了約41億美元的便士。在2024財政年度，美國造幣廠在其年度報告中表示，美國便士的生產和分配費用約為3.7美分，比上一年增長了20％以上。包括鋅和銅在內的金屬成本上升是製作硬幣變得越來越昂貴的部分原因。

Musk isn’t introducing a novel idea. For years, people have advocated eliminating the penny, as pennies are rarely spent as change. And since the Covid-19 pandemic, more consumers are shopping online or avoiding physical currency altogether.

馬斯克沒有引入一個新穎的想法。多年來，人們一直主張消除一分錢，因為很少花錢作為變化。而且，由於共同19日大流行，更多的消費者正在網上購物或完全避免實體貨幣。

More than 20 years ago, in a 2001 episode of the political drama “The West Wing,” fictional character Sam Seaborn goes into a rant about the penny.

20多年前，在2001年的政治戲劇《西翼》一集中，虛構的角色山姆·西伯恩（Sam Seaborn）對一分錢大聲疾呼。

“Majority of pennies don’t circulate. They go in jars, sock drawers,” Seaborn said.

“大多數便士沒有流通。他們穿著罐子，襪子抽屜，” Seaborn說。

More recently, last year, a New York Times Magazine story argued for abolishing the coin. “The necessity of abolishing the penny has been obvious to those in power for so long that the inability to accomplish it has transformed the coin into a symbol of deeper rot,” the piece noted.

最近，去年，《紐約時報》雜誌的故事爭辯說廢除了硬幣。該作品指出：“對於那些掌權的人來說，取消一分錢的必要性是顯而易見的，以至於無法實現將硬幣轉變為更深的腐爛的象徵。”

Other experts say eliminating the penny could benefit businesses by saving some serious time for store clerks and cashiers. Jeff Lenard, vice president of strategic industry initiatives at the National Association of Convenience Stores, said about 52 million in-person cash transactions occur at convenience stores every day.

其他專家說，消除一分錢可以通過為商店店員和收銀員節省一些嚴重的時間來使企業受益。全國便利店戰略行業倡議副總裁傑夫·萊納德（Jeff Lenard）表示，每天在便利店發生了約5200萬台現金交易。

“If we save every one of these customers 2 seconds, that’s 104 million seconds or 1,203 days,” Lenard previously said to CNN. “And that doesn’t factor in time compounding — saving 2 seconds for the other people waiting in line before they get to pay. That’s some serious productivity.”

Lenard此前對CNN說：“如果我們節省了這些客戶中的每一個，那就是1.04億秒或1,203天。” “這並不是在隨著時間的流逝而考慮 - 節省2秒鐘的其他人在付款之前排隊等候。那是一些嚴肅的生產力。”

Musk’s involvement in the new Trump administration comes as the president formally established the Department of Government Efficiency within the federal government in an executive action this week. Vivek Ramaswamy, who was originally brought on to co-run the department with Musk, has been pushed out, the Wall Street Journal reported.

馬斯克參與新的特朗普政府是因為總統本週在執行行動中正式建立了聯邦政府內部政府效率部。據《華爾街日報》報導。

CNN’s Michael Williams and Clare Duffy contributed to this report.

CNN的邁克爾·威廉姆斯（Michael Williams）和克萊爾·達菲（Clare Duffy）為這份報告做出了貢獻。