In Western countries people have been using the installment plan since the first half of the twentieth century. Today， a large proportion of all the families in Great Britain buy furniture，household goods and cars by installment. In the U.S.A.， the proportion is much higher than in Great Britain， and people there spend over 10 percent of their income on the installment plan.

　　在西方國家，人們從二十世紀上半葉以來一直用分期付款的方式購物。今天，很大部分的英國家庭用分期付款的方式購買家具、家用電器和氣車。在美國，用分期付款購物的比例高于英國。美國人將其百分之十以上的收入用于分期付款購物。

　　The goods bought on the installment plan are，in almost every case， goods that will last—radios，television sets， washing machines， refrigerators，motorcars， motorcycles， and furniture.

　　用分期付款方式購買的商品，幾乎都是耐用品，——收音機、電視機、洗衣機、冰箱、汽車、摩托車和家具。

　　The price of an article bought in this way is always higher than the price that would be paid by cash. There is a charge for interest. The buyer pays a proportion， perhaps one - quarter or one - third， of the price as a down payment when the goods are delivered to him. He then makes regular payments， weekly or monthly， until the full price is paid up. The legal ownership of the goods remains with the seller until the final payment has been made.

　　用這種辦法購買的物品，其價格要比用現金購買的價格要高，因為要加收利息費用。購買者在拿到貨物之前須支付一定比例的價款，也許是四分之一或者三分之—作為定金，以后按期付款，如按周或按月付款，直到付清全部貨款。貨物的所有權歸售貨商所有，直到付完全部貨款為止。

　　Installment buying has advantages and disadvantages. In the past， it was easy to find couples who had been saving for years in order to furnish their homes. Now， they don‘t have to do that. Installment buying can help couples with small incomes to furnish their homes and start housekeeping. It increases the demand for goods，and in this way helps business and employment.

　　分期付款購物有利有弊。過去，人們經常看到一對夫婦為了購買家具布置房間，需要儲蓄好多年。現在，他們不用這樣做了。分期付款購物可以幫助收入較低的夫婦購買家具布置房間，維持家計。其結果増加了商品需求，這樣做有助于企業發展，有助于提高就業水平。

　　There is， however， the danger that when business is bad， installment buying may end suddenly， making business much worse. This may result in a great increase in unemployment. If the people on the installment plan lost their jobs，they would probably not be able to make their payments. If great numbers of people are not able to pay their installment debts， there is a possibility that businessmen cannot collect their debts and will therefore lose money. If businessmen lose money or fail to make a satisfactory profit， the possibilities of having a depression are increased. This is why， in some countries， the government controls the installment plan by fixing the proportion of the down payment and the succeeding installments to discourage people from buying more than they can pay for on the installment plan.

　　然而，也伴隨一種危險，即當企業不景氣時，分期付款購物會突然中斷，使企業更難以為繼。這可能導致失業者大量增加。如果購物者失業，也就失去了支付貨款的能力。如果有許多購物者無力償付貨款，就會出現一種可能性，即商家收不回債務，就會虧損。如果商家虧損或賺不到一定的利潤，市面就可能更加蕭條。這就是在有些國家，政府要控制分期付款購物的原因，即規定首付款與其后各期付款的比例，勸導人們在分期付款購物時不要超出自己的支付能力。