埃隆·馬斯克（Elon Musk）以狗為主題的政府效率團隊瞄準了一分錢

擺脫一分錢將是對Doge影響力的早期考驗：它可以幫助消除數十年來改革嘗試的政府效率低下嗎？

A post from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) on the social media platform X highlighted the high costs of producing the penny, putting the coin's future in the spotlight once again.

政府效率部（DOGE）在社交媒體平台X上發表的一篇文章強調了生產一分錢的高昂成本，使硬幣的未來再次引起了人們的關注。

The penny, which costs the federal government more to make than it's worth, has been a subject of debate for decades. But despite bipartisan agreement on the issue, efforts to eliminate or alter the coin have stalled in Congress.

幾十年來，一分錢使聯邦政府付出的代價超過了價值，而是辯論的主題。但是，儘管就此問題達成了兩黨協議，但消除或改變硬幣的努力仍在國會中停滯不前。

Here's a closer look at the penny debate, DOGE's role in the discussion, and the future of the coin.

這是一點點辯論，Doge在討論中的作用以及硬幣的未來。

The penny costs the federal government more to make than it's worth.

一分錢花費聯邦政府的價值超過價值。

In fiscal year 2023, the government spent more than $179 million in taxpayer money producing over 4.5 billion pennies, according to DOGE's post on X.

根據Doge在X上的帖子的說法，在2023財政年度，政府花費了超過45億美元的納稅人資金。

Each penny cost the government more than three cents to make, the post said.

郵報說，每一分錢損失了三分以上的美分。

(For context, the US Mint's 2023 report said that pennies and nickels combined cost taxpayers nearly $179 million, while pennies alone cost them $86 million.)

（在上下文中，美國造幣廠的2023年報告說，便士和鎳的成本納入了近1.79億美元的成本，而僅便士就花費了8600萬美元。

The high cost of the penny is largely due to the rising price of the material used to make the coin.

一分錢的高成本很大程度上是由於用於製造硬幣的材料的價格上漲。

While the coins were originally pure copper, they've been nearly 98% zinc since 1982, according to JM Bullion.

根據JM Bullion的數據，儘管硬幣最初是純銅，但自1982年以來，它們的鋅已經接近98％。

But zinc isn't as cheap as it once was. According to the US Mint's 2023 report, the penny's unit cost increased by 12.9%, more than any other coin.

但是鋅不如以前那麼便宜。根據美國造幣廠的2023年報告，一分錢的單位成本增長了12.9％，比其他任何硬幣都要多。

Fewer people are using cash at all these days, according to the Federal Reserve's 2024 report on consumer payments.

根據美聯儲2024年關於消費者付款的報告，這幾天都在使用現金。

While the report doesn't break down penny usage, it found that 16% of payments in 2023 were made in cash, down from 18% the year before.

儘管該報告沒有打破一分錢的使用，但發現2023年的付款中有16％是現金付款，低於前一年的18％。

DOGE highlighted the declining cash usage in its post on X, writing that "less than 15%" of consumer payments were made in cash.

Doge強調了其在X上的帖子中的現金使用率下降，並寫道“不到15％”的消費者付款是現金。

DOGE is a "temporary organization" within the government that's tasked with updating the federal government's IT systems.

Doge是政府內部的“臨時組織”，其任務是更新聯邦政府的IT系統。

The department was created by an executive order from President Donald Trump, which was officially published Monday.

該部門是由總統唐納德·特朗普（Donald Trump）的行政命令創建的，唐納德·特朗普（Donald Trump）週一正式發布。

DOGE's post on the penny is the first time the department has commented on anything other than software issues.

Doge在Penny上的帖子是該部門第一次對軟件問題以外的任何內容髮表評論。

It's not clear from the post if DOGE plans to officially take on eliminating the penny — and Musk's group alone doesn't have the power to get rid of the coin.

如果Doge計劃正式消除一分錢，那麼從職位上看不清楚 - 僅馬斯克團體就沒有能力擺脫硬幣的能力。

Congress would need to pass a law stopping the distribution of the coin or, in theory, the Treasury secretary could decide that the nation doesn't need to make any more.

國會將需要通過一項法律，以阻止硬幣的分配，或者從理論上講，財政部長可以決定該國不再需要做任何事情。

Other countries, including Canada and Sweden, have stopped producing their pennies, and the US ditched its half-cent coin in 1857.

包括加拿大和瑞典在內的其他國家已經停止生產自己的便士，美國在1857年拋棄了半美分的硬幣。

Data for Progress, a progressive think tank, found in a 2022 survey that 58% of people agreed that the government should stop producing new pennies.

進度數據，一個進步的智囊團，在2022年的一項調查中發現，有58％的人同意政府應該停止生產新的便士。