经济学人下载:美国联邦航空管理局,翅膀被剪

A long shutdown could cost taxpayers more than $1 billion by next month. And passengers are not even enjoying a tax holiday at the airport, as most airlines have raised fares by an equal 7.5% (though Delta and US Airways are promising, shamefaced, to refund the money to customers). Jamie Baker of JPMorgan estimates that the daily benefit to the airline industry could approach $25m.

到下个月，长期关门可能会使纳税人的损失超过10亿美元。乘客们甚至没有从机场免税中得到实惠，因为大多数航空公司都把票价提高了7.5%（虽然达美航空公司和合众国航空公司都羞怯地表示要给顾客退钱）。摩根大通的杰米．贝克估计，航空业每天的利润可能接近2,500万美元。

For laid-off workers, the picture is less rosy. They are unlikely to get back to work before September. That worries Luca Toscano of Paul J. Scariano, a contractor on a $6m stalled demolition project at LaGuardia airport. He estimates that 70 jobs may be at risk there. A new tower was opened in January; the old one is being dismantled to improve sightlines. Two storeys have been removed, and an abandoned digger now sits on top of the partly dismantled tower. More than 200 stop-work orders have been issued across the country, suspending $10.5 billion-worth of projects in the middle of the building season.

而失业工人的状况就没有那么好了。九月以前他们不大可能回去上班。这让Paul J. Scariano公司的卢卡．托斯卡诺很担心。该公司是拉瓜地机场一个价值600万美元的拆迁项目的承包商。工程现已停工。他估计，工地上有可能损失70个工作岗位。新空管塔于一月份启用；为了改善视线，旧塔正在拆除中。有两层已被拆除，一台无人管的挖掘机停放在被部分拆除的塔顶上。全国各地签发的停工令有200多个，致使价值达105亿美元的工程在施工季节暂时停工。

Meanwhile, 40 FAA airport safety inspectors are working without pay. They are flying from airport to airport, checking runways and monitoring airfields. What is more, they are travelling on their own dime, hoping they will be reimbursed when the shutdown ends. If only a similar unselfishness prevailed on Capitol Hill.

与此同时，40名FAA机场安检员在无偿工作。他们从一个机场飞往另一个机场，检查跑道和监测机场。而且，他们都是自费出行，他们希望航空管理局恢复运作后能够报销旅费。要是国会山也盛行这样的无私奉献精神就好了。