《经济学人》双语：圣诞节送礼物不符合经济学规律？
原文标题：
Festivity and finance
Scrooge-onomics
The inefficiencies of Christmas
节日与经济
节俭经济学
圣诞节的低效性
Gift-giving economics
Should you forget presents and give cash?
送礼经济学
不送礼物而送现金？
[Paragraph 1]
`TIS THE season to be jolly—and to feign delight at disappointing Christmas presents.
这是一个快乐的季节--人们收到令人失望的圣诞礼物还要假装高兴的季节。
The average British adult splurged around £550 ($667) on gifts in 2021, according to one survey.
根据一项调查数据，2021年英国成年人平均在礼物上花费约550英镑（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.
但根据咨询公司“德勤”的伊恩·斯图尔特做的一项粗略计算：250亿英镑的礼物中，无用浪费的礼物实际价值为30亿英镑。
Though many see Christmas as a time of generosity and cheer, others see waste. A small number study its inefficiencies.
尽管许多人认为圣诞节是慷慨解囊和充满欢乐的节日，但也有人认为是浪费。少量研究表明了圣诞节的低效性。
[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，明尼苏达大学的乔尔·沃尔德福格尔发现了一种“无谓的损失”，当时他在研究季节性礼物的成本与礼物接收者对礼物的估价（考虑了礼物交换，除去了情感价值）之间的差异。
Today he says that on average cash spent on another person yields around 85% of the benefit of cash they spend on themselves.
他说：现在平均而言，人们花在他人身上的现金产生的效益约为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.
他说：虽然赠送礼物可能会让一些人感到快乐，但这种“资源分配方式很糟糕”。
[Paragraph 3]
There are ways to reduce Christmas losses. One is the use of gift cards, which give recipients some choice.
有一些方法可以减少圣诞节无谓的损失。一个方法是赠送礼品卡，这给了礼物接收者一些选择的自由。
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.
但英国人似乎不太喜欢这种方式。民意调查机构“益普索”对成年人进行的一项调查发现，43%的美国人、40%的法国人、仅29%的英国人计划在2022年圣诞节赠送礼品卡。
Making it easier to return unwanted gifts should help.
另一个方法会有所帮助：人们可以方便退货，即退还不需要的礼物。
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.
退货平台ZigZag的首席执行官阿尔·格里表示，时装零售领域的礼物留言或礼品包装（即礼品），退货率往往会高得多。
[Paragraph 4]
As e-commerce has expanded, so too have ways of sending stuff back.
随着电子商务的发展，寄回礼物的方式也在发生变化。
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.
但退货是令卖家头疼的问题。格里先生表示，加上运输、检查和重新包装的费用，产品重新上架的平均成本是5～10英镑。
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.
越来越多的卖家向购物者收取退货费用。ZigZag的数据显示，自去年以来，收取退货费用的商家数量增加了一倍多，而免费退货的商家数量则有所下降。
That, though, may mean more consumers are stuck with unwanted gifts.
然而，这可能意味着越来越多的消费者要处理不想要的礼物。
[Paragraph 5]
Another Christmas inefficiency for retailers is the fact that it comes but once a year.
另一个圣诞节的低效性体现在，卖家面对一个事实，即圣诞节一年只有一次。
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·格兰特开玩笑说：如果节日销量能摊开到全年，而不是集中在最后一个季度，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.
他说，在圣诞季人手不足，他要新增招募50%的员工，然而一年里的其他时间却是人浮于事。
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.
船运公司、仓库运营商和分拣中心也必须组织资源，以满足高峰需求；这可能意味着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.
物流软件公司Metapack的数据显示，12月份的包裹投递量是9月份的两倍多。
[Paragraph 6]
Over time, it does seem that consumers are spreading their spending a little more thinly across the year.
随着时间的推移，消费者也会在一年中分散消费。
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%的服装消费发生在11月和12月。2019年，该比例为22%。
Seasonality in retail spending, which includes restaurants, is also falling.
零售季节性消费（包括餐饮业）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.
根据国家统计局的数据，自1997年以来，10月至12月的季节性就业占总就业的比例一直在下降。
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.
沃尔德福格尔先生的一项新研究发现，自2000年以来，美国经济的增长与12月零售额的季节性增长相关性变小。
[Paragraph 7]
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.
虽然有些人渴望白色圣诞节的到来，但有些人可能渴望法定的现金交换，甚至渴望一种随机分配庆祝活动的机制，即一年中不同的月份都可以庆祝。
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.
如果采用这样的制度，那将会产生很多损失，尤其会损失交换精心挑选的礼物（非糟糕的礼物）时所带来的快乐。
But creating a fresh batch of unintended consequences for economists to analyse might yield some happy returns.
但创造一批新的意想不到的影响供经济学家们研究分析，这可能会产生一些令人满意的回报。
（恭喜读完，本篇英语词汇量670左右）
原文出自：2022年12月24日《TE》Britain版块。
精读笔记来源于：自由英语之路
本文翻译整理: Irene
本文编辑校对: Irene
仅供个人英语学习交流使用。
【补充资料】（来自于网络）
无谓损失（deadweight loss）又为福利净损失(welfare
loss)，是指由于垄断、关税、配额、税收或其他扭曲等因素引起的生产者和消费者都得不到的那部分，使资源得不到最佳限度的分配。例如，当垄断企业抬高价格时，消费者将减少消费，这样将导致减少的数量中本来可以实现的消费者剩余都流向了社会，这种社会性损失，就是我们所说的社会净损失，也是无谓损失。
【重点句子】（3 个）
Though many see Christmas as a time of generosity and cheer, others see waste. A small number study its inefficiencies.
尽管许多人认为圣诞节是慷慨解囊和充满欢乐的节日，但也有人认为是浪费。少量研究表明了圣诞节的低效性。
Although gift-giving may make some people happy, it’s “a lousy way to allocate resources,” he says.
他说：虽然赠送礼物可能会让一些人感到快乐，但这种“资源分配方式很糟糕”。
Over time, it does seem that consumers are spreading their spending a little more thinly across the year.
随着时间的推移，消费者也会在一年中分散消费。
