【英语国际】美国需要多发行两元美钞吗？

After the financial crisis, we fully expected the Federal Reserve to draw more mainstream public attention. But a Taco Bell marketing ploy isn't among the first things we would've predicted.

'Dear Governors of the Federal Reserve' is how the fast food joint started its tongue-in-cheek (we hope) full-page newspaper ad today to promote its new $2 meal deals. As part of the stunt, the home of the 'Beefy 5-Layer Burrito' asked the Fed to circulate more $2 bills 'to meet the pending demand.' It even started a Facebook petition, with prizes for signing up.

The ridiculousness of the premise could be forgiven if not for the seemingly serious message in Taco Bell's formal announcement: 'The Federal Reserve prints all denominations according to demand. However, the $2 bill has not been in demand and production of the note is the lowest of U.S. paper money at less than one percent of all bills printed. The last year the $2 bill was printed was 2006. While older generations of Americans treat the $2 bill with reverence, giving them as gifts or keeping them for good luck, younger generations have yet to discover it.'

The Fed does indeed issue the currency through 30 Federal Reserve Bank cash offices, based on orders from deposit-taking banks. But it does not print the bills itself. The Fed submits an order each year for new currency notes to the Treasury's Bureau of Engraving and Printing. About 850 million $2 bills were in circulation as of December 31, according to Fed data. 'The amount of currency in circulation depends on the public's demand for currency,' the Fed says. 'Domestic demand largely results from the use of currency in transactions and is influenced primarily by prices for goods and services, income levels, and the availability of alternative payment methods.'

That means people need to demand more $2 bills from their banks - or, say, from a local fast food restaurant - if they want more in circulation. Perhaps Taco Bell can complicate the lives of its cashiers and store managers by forcing them to use $2 bills more often. That should put an end to this marketing campaign fairly quickly.

本次金融危机发生后，我们曾很有把握地预计美国联邦储备委员会(Federal Reserve)会受到更多主流公众的关注。但墨西哥风味连锁餐厅塔可钟(Taco Bell)的一则搞笑式营销却并不是我们最乐见的。

为了推销自己售价两美元的套餐，塔可钟周三在报纸上刊登了整版广告，它以半开玩笑(我们希望是如此)的口吻要求“美联储诸位亲爱的理事们”允许发行更多两美元钞票，以应对即将到来的使用需求，以购买肉多量足的玉米饼。塔可钟甚至在Facebook上发起了一项请愿，签名参与的人将获得奖金。

这一搞笑要求如果不出现在塔可钟的正式声明中，还是可以被原谅的。塔可钟在上述广告中写道：美联储依据社会需求来印各种面额的钞票。但社会上对两美元钞票一直没有什么需求，这种钞票的印制量也是所有面额钞票中最低的，不足钞票印制总量的1%。美国最后一次印两美元钞票还是在2006年。虽然年长些的美国人都珍爱两美元钞票，把它们当作礼物送出去或是自己珍藏起来，但较年轻的美国人还尚未发现两美元钞票的可爱之处。

美联储确实会依据存款类银行的订单、通过旗下30家联邦储备银行的现金部门来发行钞票。但它自己并不印刷钞票。美联储每年会向财政部的铸印局(Bureau of Engraving and Printing)下印钞订单。美联储的数据显示，截至去年12月31日，流通中的两美元钞票约有8.5亿张。美联储说，流通中货币的数量取决于公众对货币的需求，国内需求主要来自于交易用币，它主要受商品和服务价格、收入水平及其他支付方式的可利用性的影响。

这意味着，如果人们想让更多两美元钞票在市面上流通，他们需要向银行，或者说当地的快餐店，要求更多这种钞票。或许塔可钟能麻烦它的收银员和连锁餐厅经理更多地使用两美元钞票。这应该能让塔可钟要求美联储发行更多两美元钞票的运动很快达到目的。