零钱花得更快 有助刺激经济

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So, Kevin, just explain how does small change kick-start a big economy in times of recession.

Well, if you think about economy like the US, the biggest in the world, according to estimates, there’s 10 billion dollars' worth of spare change just lying around. It's not in circulation, and a lot of people are interested in capitalizing on that. Um, there is, however, evidence that people in times of recession around the world use change more. They're more free with their change.

They’ll spend lower denominations.

Exactly.

Why is that?

I don't know. I mean, well, let’s think of it this way. I mean. If I... Here we go. I got a hundred bucks and five twenties. Which would you rather have, do you reckon?

I’d probably rather have the hundred.

True. But you spend this faster, research shows.

And that's a fact, is it?

That's a fact, yeah. Researchers found both in US and also in China they did a study with the housewives in China and gave them a week's worth of salary and large notes and small notes. They spent the small notes faster.

Is it the businesses other than retailers who get an advantage as well?

Yeah. I mean there is one business in particular, business called Coinstar in the United States which has one of the best performing stocks in the US this year. It’s up 70%...

And what do they do?

They basically take change...They do a number of businesses, but their core business is they take big cans of change and they change it into dollars or into debits to spend in the store.

…which gets it back out into circulation.

Exactly.

OK. Anyone else benefit from this?

Criminals. It appears that there's many more crimes taking place where small change is…

Literally robbing piggy banks.

Well, in this case, there’s a… I talked to the Normal Police Department in Normal, Illinois, and they are looking for the sort of low-rent funny-inclined duo who are terrorizing Wal-Marts and I were in Illinois. They are going into game machines and ripping off 200, 300 dollars of the takes. So far they’ve taken 10,000 dollars which is a… it’s a lot of change.

Yeah, exactly.

Vocabulary:

1.       capitalize on: to use a situation or something good that you have, in order to get an advantage for yourself

2.       denomination: the value shown on a coin, paper money, or a stamp