原文標(biāo)題：
Festivity and finance
Scrooge-onomics
The inefficiencies of Christmas
節(jié)日與經(jīng)濟(jì)
節(jié)儉經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)
圣誕節(jié)的低效性

Gift-giving economics
Should you forget presents and give cash?
送禮經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)
不送禮物而送現(xiàn)金？

[Paragraph 1]

`TIS THE season to be jolly—and to feign delight at disappointing Christmas presents.

這是一個(gè)快樂(lè)的季節(jié)--人們收到令人失望的圣誕禮物還要假裝高興的季節(jié)。

The average British adult splurged around ￡550 ($667) on gifts in 2021, according to one survey.

根據(jù)一項(xiàng)調(diào)查數(shù)據(jù)，2021年英國(guó)成年人平均在禮物上花費(fèi)約550英鎊（667美元）。

But a back-of-the-envelope calculation by Ian Stewart of Deloitte, a consultancy, suggests that the volumes of unwanted stuff in effect destroyed around ￡3bn of the ￡25bn value.

但根據(jù)咨詢(xún)公司“德勤”的伊恩·斯圖爾特做的一項(xiàng)粗略計(jì)算：250億英鎊的禮物中，無(wú)用浪費(fèi)的禮物實(shí)際價(jià)值為30億英鎊。

Though many see Christmas as a time of generosity and cheer, others see waste. A small number study its inefficiencies.
盡管許多人認(rèn)為圣誕節(jié)是慷慨解囊和充滿(mǎn)歡樂(lè)的節(jié)日，但也有人認(rèn)為是浪費(fèi)。少量研究表明了圣誕節(jié)的低效性。

[Paragraph 2]
In 1993 Joel Waldfogel of the University of Minnesota identified a “deadweight loss” when he studied the difference between the cost of seasonal gifts and how much their recipients valued them after they had accounted for exchanges and put sentimental value aside.
1993年，明尼蘇達(dá)大學(xué)的喬爾·沃爾德福格爾發(fā)現(xiàn)了一種“無(wú)謂的損失”，當(dāng)時(shí)他在研究季節(jié)性禮物的成本與禮物接收者對(duì)禮物的估價(jià)（考慮了禮物交換，除去了情感價(jià)值）之間的差異。

Today he says that on average cash spent on another person yields around 85% of the benefit of cash they spend on themselves.
他說(shuō)：現(xiàn)在平均而言，人們花在他人身上的現(xiàn)金產(chǎn)生的效益約為花在自己身上效益的85%。

Although gift-giving may make some people happy, it’s “a lousy way to allocate resources,” he says.
他說(shuō)：雖然贈(zèng)送禮物可能會(huì)讓一些人感到快樂(lè)，但這種“資源分配方式很糟糕”。

[Paragraph 3]
There are ways to reduce Christmas losses. One is the use of gift cards, which give recipients some choice.
有一些方法可以減少圣誕節(jié)無(wú)謂的損失。一個(gè)方法是贈(zèng)送禮品卡，這給了禮物接收者一些選擇的自由。

But Britons don’t seem to like them much. A survey of adults from Ipsos, a pollster, found that 43% of Americans, 40% of the French and only 29% of Britons were planning to give them for Christmas 2022.
但英國(guó)人似乎不太喜歡這種方式。民意調(diào)查機(jī)構(gòu)“益普索”對(duì)成年人進(jìn)行的一項(xiàng)調(diào)查發(fā)現(xiàn)，43%的美國(guó)人、40%的法國(guó)人、僅29%的英國(guó)人計(jì)劃在2022年圣誕節(jié)贈(zèng)送禮品卡。

Making it easier to return unwanted gifts should help.
另一個(gè)方法會(huì)有所幫助：人們可以方便退貨，即退還不需要的禮物。

Al Gerrie, chief executive officer of ZigZag, a returns platform, says that when a gift message or gift wrap is used in fashion retail (that is, for a present) return rates tend to be considerably higher.
退貨平臺(tái)ZigZag的首席執(zhí)行官阿爾·格里表示，時(shí)裝零售領(lǐng)域的禮物留言或禮品包裝（即禮品），退貨率往往會(huì)高得多。

[Paragraph 4]
As e-commerce has expanded, so too have ways of sending stuff back.
隨著電子商務(wù)的發(fā)展，寄回禮物的方式也在發(fā)生變化。

But returns are a headache for retailers. On average it costs between ￡5 and ￡10 to put a product back on the shelves, says Mr Gerrie, thanks to the shipping, inspecting and repackaging required.
但退貨是令賣(mài)家頭疼的問(wèn)題。格里先生表示，加上運(yùn)輸、檢查和重新包裝的費(fèi)用，產(chǎn)品重新上架的平均成本是5～10英鎊。

Increasingly, retailers are charging shoppers to return goods. ZigZag’s data suggest the number of paid-for returns has more than doubled since last year, while the number of free returns has fallen.
越來(lái)越多的賣(mài)家向購(gòu)物者收取退貨費(fèi)用。ZigZag的數(shù)據(jù)顯示，自去年以來(lái)，收取退貨費(fèi)用的商家數(shù)量增加了一倍多，而免費(fèi)退貨的商家數(shù)量則有所下降。

That, though, may mean more consumers are stuck with unwanted gifts.
然而，這可能意味著越來(lái)越多的消費(fèi)者要處理不想要的禮物。

[Paragraph 5]
Another Christmas inefficiency for retailers is the fact that it comes but once a year.
另一個(gè)圣誕節(jié)的低效性體現(xiàn)在，賣(mài)家面對(duì)一個(gè)事實(shí)，即圣誕節(jié)一年只有一次。

Gary Grant of The Entertainer, which sells toys, jokes that he would love it if festive sales were spread throughout the year rather than being crammed into the final quarter.
玩具商“The Entertainer”的加里·格蘭特開(kāi)玩笑說(shuō)：如果節(jié)日銷(xiāo)量能攤開(kāi)到全年，而不是集中在最后一個(gè)季度，那就太好了。

He is understaffed, he says, during the holiday season, when he expands his workforce by 50%, and then overstaffed the rest of the year.
他說(shuō)，在圣誕季人手不足，他要新增招募50%的員工，然而一年里的其他時(shí)間卻是人浮于事。

Shipping companies, warehouse operators and sorting centres must also organise themselves to meet peak demand; that can mean unused capacity at quieter times of the year.
船運(yùn)公司、倉(cāng)庫(kù)運(yùn)營(yíng)商和分揀中心也必須組織資源，以滿(mǎn)足高峰需求；這可能意味著在一年中的淡季有未使用的容量。

Data from Metapack, a logistics software company, suggest that in December the volume of posted parcels is more than double the level in September.
物流軟件公司Metapack的數(shù)據(jù)顯示，12月份的包裹投遞量是9月份的兩倍多。

[Paragraph 6]
Over time, it does seem that consumers are spreading their spending a little more thinly across the year.
隨著時(shí)間的推移，消費(fèi)者也會(huì)在一年中分散消費(fèi)。

In 1986 25% of the year’s spending on clothing was in November and December. In 2019 the share was 22%.
1986年，一年中25%的服裝消費(fèi)發(fā)生在11月和12月。2019年，該比例為22%。

Seasonality in retail spending, which includes restaurants, is also falling.
零售季節(jié)性消費(fèi)（包括餐飲業(yè)）也在下降。

Seasonal employment as a share of the total between October and December has been decreasing since 1997, according to the Office for National Statistics.
根據(jù)國(guó)家統(tǒng)計(jì)局的數(shù)據(jù)，自1997年以來(lái)，10月至12月的季節(jié)性就業(yè)占總就業(yè)的比例一直在下降。

A new study by Mr Waldfogel found that since 2000 growth in the American economy has been associated with a smaller seasonal bump in December’s retail sales.
沃爾德福格爾先生的一項(xiàng)新研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，自2000年以來(lái)，美國(guó)經(jīng)濟(jì)的增長(zhǎng)與12月零售額的季節(jié)性增長(zhǎng)相關(guān)性變小。

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While some dream of white Christmases, others may yearn for mandatory exchanges of cash, or even a mechanism to randomly allocate the celebrations evenly across months of the year.
雖然有些人渴望白色圣誕節(jié)的到來(lái)，但有些人可能渴望法定的現(xiàn)金交換，甚至渴望一種隨機(jī)分配慶祝活動(dòng)的機(jī)制，即一年中不同的月份都可以慶祝。

Much would be lost if such a system were adopted, not least the joy that can accompany the exchange of carefully (if badly) chosen presents.
如果采用這樣的制度，那將會(huì)產(chǎn)生很多損失，尤其會(huì)損失交換精心挑選的禮物（非糟糕的禮物）時(shí)所帶來(lái)的快樂(lè)。

But creating a fresh batch of unintended consequences for economists to analyse might yield some happy returns.
但創(chuàng)造一批新的意想不到的影響供經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)家們研究分析，這可能會(huì)產(chǎn)生一些令人滿(mǎn)意的回報(bào)。

（恭喜讀完，本篇英語(yǔ)詞匯量670左右）
原文出自：2022年12月24日《TE》Britain版塊。

精讀筆記來(lái)源于：自由英語(yǔ)之路

本文翻譯整理: Irene

本文編輯校對(duì): Irene
僅供個(gè)人英語(yǔ)學(xué)習(xí)交流使用。

【補(bǔ)充資料】（來(lái)自于網(wǎng)絡(luò)）
無(wú)謂損失（deadweight loss）又為福利凈損失(welfare loss)，是指由于壟斷、關(guān)稅、配額、稅收或其他扭曲等因素引起的生產(chǎn)者和消費(fèi)者都得不到的那部分，使資源得不到最佳限度的分配。例如，當(dāng)壟斷企業(yè)抬高價(jià)格時(shí)，消費(fèi)者將減少消費(fèi)，這樣將導(dǎo)致減少的數(shù)量中本來(lái)可以實(shí)現(xiàn)的消費(fèi)者剩余都流向了社會(huì)，這種社會(huì)性損失，就是我們所說(shuō)的社會(huì)凈損失，也是無(wú)謂損失。

【重點(diǎn)句子】（3 個(gè)）
Though many see Christmas as a time of generosity and cheer, others see waste. A small number study its inefficiencies.
盡管許多人認(rèn)為圣誕節(jié)是慷慨解囊和充滿(mǎn)歡樂(lè)的節(jié)日，但也有人認(rèn)為是浪費(fèi)。少量研究表明了圣誕節(jié)的低效性。

Although gift-giving may make some people happy, it’s “a lousy way to allocate resources,” he says.
他說(shuō)：雖然贈(zèng)送禮物可能會(huì)讓一些人感到快樂(lè)，但這種“資源分配方式很糟糕”。

Over time, it does seem that consumers are spreading their spending a little more thinly across the year.
隨著時(shí)間的推移，消費(fèi)者也會(huì)在一年中分散消費(fèi)。