從3月11日晚上開始，美國人民就得把鬧鐘調(diào)快一個小時了，至于智能手機(jī)、平板電腦和計算機(jī)什么的，則會自動將時間調(diào)快一個小時。這種做法又稱“夏令時”，最早可以追溯到1918年3月的美國。繼美國之后，德國、英國等地也相應(yīng)建立了夏令時制度。

美國的夏令時是由第28任總統(tǒng)伍德羅·威爾遜推動建立的，其初衷是為了讓大家充分利用自然光，好節(jié)約能源打贏第一次世界大戰(zhàn)。此后的幾十年，夏令時制度逐步在各州得到推廣，最終在60年代在國家層面確定下來。

一戰(zhàn)結(jié)束后，另一種支持夏令時的觀點(diǎn)出現(xiàn)了。據(jù)《史密森學(xué)會雜志》報道，百貨商店的老板們是很支持夏令時的，因?yàn)槿藗兿掳嗪笕绻爝€沒黑，就會有很多人選擇去購物。該政策也對高爾夫等運(yùn)動的發(fā)展有益。

不過這些觀點(diǎn)也并非完全能站得住腳。雖然美國能源部有研究稱夏令時令美國的能源消費(fèi)略有下降，但其他研究卻“打臉”了能源部，表明夏令時實(shí)際上增加了能源消費(fèi)和排放。2016年摩根大通的一項(xiàng)研究也顯示，雖然在夏令時期間，人們的消費(fèi)支出會有所增加，但一旦恢復(fù)到冬令時，消費(fèi)支出又會顯著下降，基本抵消了夏令時對消費(fèi)的刺激。

很多人認(rèn)為夏令時對農(nóng)業(yè)有好處，然而恰恰相反，幾十年來，美國的農(nóng)民們一直呼吁取消夏令時。

因此，夏令時對經(jīng)濟(jì)的刺激或許只是“看上去很美”。夏令時的確對社會有些積極貢獻(xiàn)——比如搶劫犯罪的少了些。但由于夏令時擾亂了人們的睡眠習(xí)慣，因而它也增加了人們患心臟病和遭遇工作事故的風(fēng)險。

總之，證據(jù)的天平似乎開始向反對夏令時的一方傾斜。不過要想說服國會取消夏令時制度也是不容易的——近年的民調(diào)表明，大多數(shù)美國人還是支持夏令時制度的，哪怕他們每年都有一兩天因?yàn)榈箷r差而睡不好覺。（財富中文網(wǎng)）

譯者:樸成奎?

Some tonight, you will either manually set your clocks ahead an hour, or (more likely) your various smartphones, tablets, and computing devices will adjust themselves for you. Those devices will be carrying forward a practice that dates to March of 1918, when the U.S. — following Germany and Great Britain – implemented a plan for Daylight Saving Time.

The initial justification for the policy, implemented by Woodrow Wilson, was that it would save energy that could go towards helping fight World War I. The same rationale would be used for the expansion of Daylight Saving in later decades, including its national formalization in the 1960s.

Following World War I, though, a different rationale surfaced. According to Smithsonian Magazine, department store owners pushed for the policy to continue, since more people shopped after work when it was light out later. The policy has also benefited sports like golf.

Those motives haven’t proven entirely durable. One study found that Daylight Savings actually increased home energy consumption and emissions, though a conflicting Department of Energy study found a small but significant decline. More damning was a 2016 J.P. Morgan study finding that, while there’s some boost to spending when Daylight Savings Time goes into effect, it’s offset by a substantial drop when clocks are switched back.

And Daylight Saving does not, contrary to widespread myth, particularly benefit farmers. In fact, farmers lobbied against it for decades.

So the commercial motives for Daylight Saving Time may not be all they’re cracked up to be. Some subtler positive effects have been measured, including declines in robberies – but so have increases in heart attacks and workplace accidents, thanks to the effects of sleep disruption.

On balance, the objective evidence against Daylight Saving Time seems to outweigh arguments in its favor. But groups lobbying to eliminate it have an uphill battle – polls in recent years show a majority of Americans still support the policy, even if it costs them sleep once a year.