埃隆·马斯克（Elon Musk）的政府效率部门针对美国一分钱

多吉（Doge）在X上表示，在2023财政年度，一分钱的成本超过3美分，使美国纳税人赚了1.79亿美元。

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

美国便士可能是埃隆·马斯克（Elon Musk）政府效率砍伐块的下一个。

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.

马斯克（Musk）在X上表示，在2023财政年度，一分钱的成本超过3美分，使美国纳税人赚了1.79亿美元。该帖子部分说：“造币厂在2023财年生产了超过45亿美元的便士，约有114亿硬币的发行量中的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.

美国造币厂在2023年报告说，它散发了约41亿美元的便士。在2024财政年度，美国造币厂在其年度报告中表示，美国便士的生产和分配费用约为3.7美分，比上一年增长了20％以上。包括锌和铜在内的金属成本上升是制作硬币变得越来越昂贵的部分原因。

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.

马斯克没有引入一个新颖的想法。多年来，人们一直主张消除一分钱，因为很少花钱作为变化。而且，由于共同19日大流行，更多的消费者正在网上购物或完全避免实体货币。

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年的政治戏剧《西翼》一集中，虚构的角色山姆·西伯恩（Sam Seaborn）对一分钱大声疾呼。

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

“大多数便士没有流通。他们穿着罐子，袜子抽屉，” Seaborn说。

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，《纽约时报》杂志的故事争辩说废除了硬币。该作品指出：“对于那些掌权的人来说，取消一分钱的必要性是显而易见的，以至于无法实现将硬币转变为更深的腐烂的象征。”

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.

其他专家说，消除一分钱可以通过为商店店员和收银员节省一些严重的时间来使企业受益。全国便利店战略行业倡议副总裁杰夫·莱纳德（Jeff Lenard）表示，每天在便利店发生了约5200万台现金交易。

“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此前对CNN说：“如果我们节省了这些客户中的每一个，那就是1.04亿秒或1,203天。” “这并不是在随着时间的流逝而考虑 - 节省2秒钟的其他人在付款之前排队等候。那是一些严肃的生产力。”

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.

马斯克参与新的特朗普政府是因为总统本周在执行行动中正式建立了联邦政府内部政府效率部。据《华尔街日报》报道。

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

CNN的迈克尔·威廉姆斯（Michael Williams）和克莱尔·达菲（Clare Duffy）为这份报告做出了贡献。