埃隆·马斯克（Elon Musk）以狗为主题的政府效率团队瞄准了一分钱

摆脱一分钱将是对Doge影响力的早期考验：它可以帮助消除数十年来改革尝试的政府效率低下吗？

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）在社交媒体平台X上发表的一篇文章强调了生产一分钱的高昂成本，使硬币的未来再次引起了人们的关注。

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.

几十年来，一分钱使联邦政府付出的代价超过了价值，而是辩论的主题。但是，尽管就此问题达成了两党协议，但消除或改变硬币的努力仍在国会中停滞不前。

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

这是一点点辩论，Doge在讨论中的作用以及硬币的未来。

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

一分钱花费联邦政府的价值超过价值。

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.

根据Doge在X上的帖子的说法，在2023财政年度，政府花费了超过45亿美元的纳税人资金。

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

邮报说，每一分钱损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，美国造币厂的2023年报告说，便士和镍的成本纳入了近1.79亿美元的成本，而仅便士就花费了8600万美元。

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

一分钱的高成本很大程度上是由于用于制造硬币的材料的价格上涨。

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

根据JM Bullion的数据，尽管硬币最初是纯铜，但自1982年以来，它们的锌已经接近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.

但是锌不如以前那么便宜。根据美国造币厂的2023年报告，一分钱的单位成本增长了12.9％，比其他任何硬币都要多。

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

根据美联储2024年关于消费者付款的报告，这几天都在使用现金。

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.

尽管该报告没有打破一分钱的使用，但发现2023年的付款中有16％是现金付款，低于前一年的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强调了其在X上的帖子中的现金使用率下降，并写道“不到15％”的消费者付款是现金。

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

Doge是政府内部的“临时组织”，其任务是更新联邦政府的IT系统。

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

该部门是由总统唐纳德·特朗普（Donald Trump）的行政命令创建的，唐纳德·特朗普（Donald Trump）周一正式发布。

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

Doge在Penny上的帖子是该部门第一次对软件问题以外的任何内容发表评论。

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计划正式消除一分钱，那么从职位上看不清楚 - 仅马斯克团体就没有能力摆脱硬币的能力。

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.

国会将需要通过一项法律，以阻止硬币的分配，或者从理论上讲，财政部长可以决定该国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内的其他国家已经停止生产自己的便士，美国在1857年抛弃了半美分的硬币。

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.

进度数据，一个进步的智囊团，在2022年的一项调查中发现，有58％的人同意政府应该停止生产新的便士。