What gives a dollar bill its value? - Doug Levinson

谁赋予钞票价值？- Doug Levinson

翻译人员: Alex Wang 校对人员: Jenny Yang

If you tried to pay for something with a piece of paper,

如果你想要用一张纸

来支付什么东西

you might run into some trouble.

你大概会遇到些麻烦

Unless, of course, the piece of paper was a hundred dollar bill.

当然，除非你的这张纸

是百元大钞。

But what is it that makes that bill so much more interesting and valuable

可是，是什么使得这张钞票

比一张纸更加

than other pieces of paper?

有趣有价值呢？

After all, there's not much you can do with it.

毕竟它作为一张纸，并没有什么用处。

You can't eat it.

它不能吃，

You can't build things with it.

不能用来造房子，

And burning it is actually illegal.

把它烧了还是违法的。

So what's the big deal?

那又如何？

Of course, you probably know the answer.

当然，你大概知道这个问题的答案。

A hundred dollar bill is printed by the government

一张百元钞票是由政府印制的，

and designated as official currency,

并被指定为官方货币，

while other pieces of paper are not.

其他纸可不是这样。

But that's just what makes them legal.

但这只是使得这张纸合法的途径。

What makes a hundred dollar bill valuable, on the other hand,

另一方面，这张纸之所以有价值

is how many or few of them are around.

是因为它们数量有限。

Throughout history, most currency, including the US dollar,

纵观历史，大多数货币，

包括美元

was linked to valuable commodities

是与有价值的商品联系在一起的，

and the amount of it in circulation

而货币的流通量，取决于

depended on a government's gold or silver reserves.

政府中黄金或白银的储备量。

但自从1971年美国政府废除了黄金兑换系统后，

But after the US abolished this system in 1971,

the dollar became what is known as fiat money,

美元从此成为了“法定货币”，

meaning not linked to any external resource

意思是货币本身与其他东西没有关联，

but relying instead solely on government policy

它的价值仅仅由政策

to decide how much currency to print.

以及发行量来决定。

Which branch of our government sets this policy?

是那个政府部门来指定这种政策呢？

The Executive, the Legislative, or the Judicial?

行政部门？立法机构？还是司法机构？

The surprising answer is: none of the above!

出乎意料，它们都不是！

In fact, monetary policy is set by an independent Federal Reserve System,

事实上，货币政策是由

独立的美国联邦储备系统指定的，

or the Fed,

它也称为美联储，

made up of 12 regional banks in major cities around the country.

这个系统由全美国内12个设立在主要城市的

地区性储备银行组成。

Its board of governors,

储备委员会成员

which is appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate,

由总统提名，

经国会参议院批准后

方可上任。

reports to Congress,

and all the Fed's profit goes into the US Treasury.

美联储所有利润须转交美国财政部。

But to keep the Fed from being influenced

为了使美联储不受

by the day-to-day vicissitudes of politics,

变幻莫测的政治因素影响，

it is not under the direct control of any branch of government.

它不受任何政府部门的直接控制。

Why doesn't the Fed just decide to print infinite hundred dollar bills

那美联储为什么不干脆

印无数的钞票让每个人都

to make everyone happy and rich?

又开心有有钱呢？

如果那样，钞票就不再值钱了。

Well, because then the bills wouldn't be worth anything.

Think about the purpose of currency,

想想，货币产生的目的是用来

which is to be exchanged for goods and services.

交换商品及服务。

If the total amount of currency in circulation

在一个经济体中，

increases faster than the total value of goods and services in the economy,

如果市场中的货币量

比其等值的商品和服务上升的快，

then each individual piece will be able

每一分钱能买到的东西

to buy a smaller portion of those things than before.

就会比原来少很多。

This is called inflation.

这叫通货膨胀。

On the other hand,

另一方面，

if the money supply remains the same,

如果货币供给量不变，

while more goods and services are produced,

商品和服务的量增加

each dollar's value would increase

每一元钱的价值就会增加，

in a process known as deflation.

这个过程叫做通货紧缩。

So which is worse?

哪一种情况更糟糕呢？

Too much inflation

过度的通货膨胀

means that the money in your wallet today will be worth less tomorrow,

意味着今天在你钱包里的钱

明天价值更少，

making you want to spend it right away.

使得你想要赶快把它花掉。

这会刺激经济

While this would stimulate business, it would also encourage overconsumption,

也会促使过度消费

or hoarding commodities, like food and fuel,

以及对食物，燃油等商品的囤积，

raising their prices

物价抬高，

and leading to consumer shortages and even more inflation.

导致消费人数减少，加剧通货膨胀。

But deflation would make people want to hold onto their money,

但通货紧缩会致使人们

想要守住自己的钱，

and a decrease in consumer spending

减少消费支出，

would reduce business profits,

降低了商业利润，

leading to more unemployment and a further decrease in spending,

导致失业现象更严重，

进而使消费支出越来越少，

causing the economy to keep shrinking.

经济不断地紧缩。

So most economists believe that while too much of either is dangerous,

所以，大多数经济学家们认为，

两种情况到了极端都很危险，

a small, consistent amount of inflation is necessary to encourage economic growth.

轻微且持续的通货膨胀

对促进经济增长是必要的。

The Fed uses vast amounts of economic data

美联储用大量的经济数据来决定

to determine how much currency should be in circulation,

流通的货币量

including previous rates of inflation,

这些数据包括历史通胀率

international trends, and the unemployment rate.

国际贸易

以及失业率

Like in the story of Goldilocks,

如同Goldilock的故事里说的一样，

they need to get the numbers just right

美联储要让货币供给量恰到好处，

in order to stimulate growth and keep people employed,

才能在避免通货膨胀失控的情况下

without letting inflation reach disruptive levels.

刺激增长，保持就业率。

The Fed not only determines

总之，美联储不仅决定着

how much that paper in your wallet is worth

你钱包里钞票的价值

but also your chances of getting or keeping the job

也决定着你是否有机会保住工作

where you earn it.

得以继续赚钱。