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But to keep the Fed from being influenced by the day-to-day vicissitudes of politics,
為了使美聯儲不受變幻莫測的政治因素影響，
it is not under the direct control of any branch of government.
它不受任何政府部門的直接控制。
So why doesn't the Fed just decide to print infinite hundred dollar bills to make everyone happy and rich?
那美聯儲為什么不干脆印無數的鈔票讓每個人都又開心有有錢呢？
Well, because then the bills wouldn't be worth anything.
如果那樣，鈔票就不再值錢了。
Think about the purpose of currency, which is to be exchanged for goods and services.
想想，貨幣產生的目的是用來交換商品及服務。
If the total amount of currency in circulation increases faster than the total value of goods and services in the economy,
在一個經濟體中，如果市場中的貨幣量比其等值的商品和服務上升的快，
then each individual piece will be able to buy a smaller portion of those things than before.
每一分錢能買到的東西就會比原來少很多。
This is called inflation.
這叫通貨膨脹。
On the other hand, if the money supply remains the same,
另一方面，如果貨幣供給量不變，
while more goods and services are produced, each dollar's value would increase in a process known as deflation.
商品和服務的量增加每一元錢的價值就會增加，這個過程叫做通貨緊縮。
So which is worse?
哪一種情況更糟糕呢？
Too much inflation means that the money in your wallet today will be worth less tomorrow, making you want to spend it right away.
過度的通貨膨脹意味著今天在你錢包里的錢明天價值更少，使得你想要趕快把它花掉。
While this would stimulate business, it would also encourage overconsumption, or hoarding commodities, like food and fuel,
這會刺激經濟，也會促使過度消費以及對食物，燃油等商品的囤積，
raising their prices and leading to consumer shortages and even more inflation.
物價抬高，導致消費人數減少，加劇通貨膨脹。
But deflation would make people want to hold onto their money,
但通貨緊縮會致使人們想要守住自己的錢，
and a decrease in consumer spending would reduce business profits,
減少消費支出，降低了商業利潤，
leading to more unemployment and a further decrease in spending, causing the economy to keep shrinking.
導致失業現象更嚴重，進而使消費支出越來越少，經濟不斷地緊縮。
So most economists believe that while too much of either is dangerous,
所以，大多數經濟學家們認為，兩種情況到了極端都很危險，
a small, consistent amount of inflation is necessary to encourage economic growth.
輕微且持續的通貨膨脹對促進經濟增長是必要的。
The Fed uses vast amounts of economic data to determine how much currency should be in circulation,
美聯儲用大量的經濟數據來決定流通的貨幣量，
including previous rates of inflation, international trends, and the unemployment rate.
這些數據包括歷史通脹率國際貿易以及失業率。
Like in the story of Goldilocks, they need to get the numbers just right
如同Goldilock的故事里說的一樣，美聯儲要讓貨幣供給量恰到好處，
in order to stimulate growth and keep people employed, without letting inflation reach disruptive levels.
才能在避免通貨膨脹失控的情況下刺激增長，保持就業率。
The Fed not only determines how much that paper in your wallet is worth
總之，美聯儲不僅決定著你錢包里鈔票的價值，
but also your chances of getting or keeping the job where you earn it.
也決定著你是否有機會保住工作得以繼續賺錢。
