Has the venerable $.01 piece outlived its usefulness? Check out the website for some of the arguments in favor of eliminating the penny. What do you think? Also check out this guys hilarious rant against the penny.
The second video is from a guy who loves pennies. Which side are you on?
47 comments:
I agree with John Green's idea that pennies and nickels should not be minted due to fact that the marginal costs significantly over-weigh the marginal benefits. The opportunity costs are way too high.
Based on empirical data, it makes sense to slowly take the penny out of the U.S. economy. It would save Americans millions of dollars in taxpayer money. Even though one of the arguments against pennies is that removing them would increase efficiency in transaction time, I don't think the American public would be convinced by the fact that they would save an hour and a half in transaction is a sufficient reason for not using the penny anymore. However, there are other reasons which are much more sound and persuasive.
Even though financially it makes sense and a prevalent argument is that other countries have done it so why not the U.S., what professors and authors have not addressed is the disparity in the sizes between the other economies which removed their lowest currency and that of the United States. I think removing the lowest currency would be more difficult in the U.S. because we are the largest economy in the world.
I think it would be a horrible decision to get rid of the penny. Sooner or later, pennies add up and the government is so corrupted by business interests that it isn't possible to get rid of it. Getting rid of the penny would also cause inflation.
I agree with john green. If the cost of making a penny significantly outweighs what the penny is actually worth then why make them? Plus it would free up a lot of space in my cup holders.
Alexis Buck.
In some ways I believe with what John Green is saying, and in other ways, I agree that the penny is not entirely a bad thing.
I believe with John Green that if the opportunity cost of having the penny become a part of our currency is only forcing us to pay more of our money to make them, and they are beginning to worth less and less in value due to several different aspects in the economy, then what truly is the point of keeping them around? I do not want to spend that much money for coins that are usually unwanted, and lying around on the roads waiting to be picked up.
However, sometimes the pennies do happen to have some role in our daily lives. changing our currency would have some toll on the U.S. economy. First, whoever is provided the jobs and the money to make the pennies with be forced to shutdown, which, in turn, would lose a significant amount of jobs, no matter if it is only located in one city. Then, it affects how we pay for things. Without the penny, wouldn't things be even more expensive, cause we would have to round up the cost cause we have no pennies to pay it with?
And what about what the guy in the second video said about saving up enough pennies, to where if you cash them in, you could become very rich?
Its just an idea.
So, in my mind, although financially it seems that we are wasting our money for a worthless penny, there has to be some reason why the pennies are continually being made.
We should eliminate the penny. First off were entering a technology age. Most people don't even carry pennies. Second, nobody uses pennies to pay for anything anymore. Third, if the marginal cost exceeds the marginal benefit, why use it?
I believe that the penny should be taken out of the U.S economy because of the fact that it costs more money to make one than what it is actually worth and the second reason is that the penny is virtually useless as many people don't even bother to keep pennies anymore why bother make them?
I would agree with the first video because I, for one, do not like pennies, I have at least 20 of them and I am trying to get rid of it. Along with that, I don't see the proper use of the penny, since everything really costs more than a penny. IF they do stop making pennies, they could produce more nickels, dimes, or quarters.
P. S.
I like the second guy... He's funny...
I also agree with John Green's idea because just from that little fact of costing 1.7 cents to make something that worth less is wasting both time and money. So why waste are time making such coins with such low value? Things nowadays is not worth a penny or a nickel anymore. Typically, most things are worth $1 or more.
I agree with John Green's idea that pennies are not needed. According to his analysis, it costs the U.S. mint 1.7 cents to make a penny, which means in a year, 70 million dollars of federal tax money goes to subsidizing the existence of the penny. By getting rid of the penny, it wouldn't raise prices or cut charitable organization; therefore we should get rid of pennies and can save billions of dollars annually.
COmpletely agree with getting rid of the penny. And the nickel. Although it could hurt the price of copper somewhat, it wouldn't do much because the coppper penny has barely any copper inside of it. And zinc is much cheaper, and as mentioned by John Green, quite insignificant. The pennies currently in circulation should be valid, but the minting of them should stop.
Besides the obvious reasons of getting rid off the penny, such as it costing more than its worth, I like reasons such as:
1) A world where people drop half dollar coins instead on pennies, and actually picking it up from the parking lot if you find it.
2) I could try to hoard all the pennies I can get together, and 30 years from now sell them or make a museum out of them and call it the Museum of lost curreny.
I am more on the side of the penny lovers but I have some problems that would have to be resolved. First of all, if the penny cost more to make it than what it is actually worth, there obviously needs to be some changes to bring the marginal costs and benefits closer. Second, the argument about the transaction time can be looked at in two different ways. Yes, it takes time to find the pennies in the bottom of your purse or pocket, however there must be a reason that you are digging them out. This leads me to one of my bigger problems with the practicality of getting rid of the penny. To be able to get rid of the penny, no businesses would be able to charge $1.62 for an item(or any sort of cent value that is neither .05 cents or .10 cents)because if you could only pay in nickels and dimes you wouldn't be able to pay the exact amount. Another problem with getting rid of the penny is the fact that sales taxes would have to be regulated. Think about the sales tax here. It is set at 8.25%. So when you buy a dollar value burger at McDonalds, how much do you pay? I can tell you, you don't pay $1.10 or $1.05.
So even though it seems to make sense that you would save money by getting rid of the penny, there are many other practicality issues with getting rid of the penny that are almost completely unresolvable in the current system that we have.
This is completely biased because I love John Green and I have read his books. Unless they can make a cheaper way to make pennies, costing less than...well...a penny, then why do we need them? We're already in debt! Also, John Green is really smart. I definitely think he knows what he's talking about. No more pennies! I do not think this country can afford the luxury of pennies, WE ARE IN DEBT. In fact, lets get rid of change entirely. I hate change. Why not get rid of DECIMAL POINTS ENTIRELY. I need to type this in a John Green fashion because HE IS AWESOME. And PASSIONATE. Anyways. Coins are useful, and a lot of people have them, but why do we need them if it's costing us money to have them? Too much money! I also hate on the penny. Go John Green!
The penny, as proved by John Green, is a pretty darn worthless coin. Costing more money to produce than it is worth, the penny is useless. But Abraham Lincoln is on the penny and he IS a very important president and he is very very attractive. I'm not sure if I'm bias because I have a crush on Lincoln or because I have sentimental attachment to th penny, but I would like the penny to stick around.
As unuseful as the penny it is an American symbol!
The penny should not be a coin actively made..but I still have difficulty letting go..just like when the deplanetized Pluto.
Realizing the penny is an outdated, bad idea..Lincoln is still really really REALLY cute.
I have to agree with John Green and say that the penny has, indeed, outlived its usefulness. In no way does it make sense for our nation to keep minting money that costs more to produce than it is worth. I believe that pennies should be removed from our currency system, but in a way that is efficient and beneficial in the most possible ways. For instance, our government could install money exchange machines throughout the country (there are many already) that will accept pennies, but will return only coins/bills of larger value. The government could even offer an incentive of perhaps 1.3 cents returned per penny, melt down all the pennies collected, and sell the resultant raw material to receive some revenue (one penny costs approximately 1.7 cents to make). Moreover, we would need a rounding system so that consumer goods can only be priced in increments of 5 cents including standard tax in the given state.
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I agree with John Green's idea because the opportunity costs are very high. As he said, "money exists to facilitate the exchange of goods and services." It would save the U.S. Economy millions of dollars if they slowly took away the penny, or all change for that matter.
I'm in favor of slowly taking the penny out of circulation. Honoring Abraham Lincoln should not be a reason to keep the penny because he's already honored with the 5 dollar bill, which according to the Federal Reserve, takes 8.5 cents to make. I agree with John Greene that the penny's marginal costs outweigh its marginal benefits, and that continuing to create the penny would mean investing money that can go to medicaid, social security, national defense, etc... However, if prices had to be rounded to the nickel, people who don't make but a sufficient amount of money would be hit the most, because they're most likely to make smaller purchases.
I am in accord with John Green's idea of getting rid of the pennies since the opportunity cost of making the penny is high therefore there is no comparative advantage here.
John Green is correct. If a unit of currency isn't able to purchase a good or service (except in highly unusual circumstances), it serves no real function. The only use of pennies in the modern US economy is to inconvenience those who are being paid with such a small denomination.
The argument that it would make some charges unpayable (eg., $3.47) is not valid; most actual prices have more than 3 decimal places, but the price is rounded up. Dimes could serve the exact same function.
Now that most money is transferred electronically anyway, the penny's role is increasingly obsolete, as with most coin money.
I agree with Lamarr Wilson those are some nifty things you can do with pennies.
I agree with John green, anything that costs more to make than it's worth should not be made. Getting rid of the penny now doesn't necessarily mean it can't ever be brought back into circulation. Anyone who thinks it should be kept based on its sentimental value should put their sentiments aside and think how an action could benefit the economy. Decisions like the ousting of the penny should be determined in the most practical way.
Since the cost of making the penny is more than what the penny is really worth, I agree that the penny should be taken out. Also, not many people use pennies to begin with.
I have been thinking this for a while because anything under a quarter is pretty useless. I have heard many stories from my grandparents about the uses of the pennies when they were a kid. The uses were for gumball machines, where one penny was used to get a gumball, and a nickel would have gotten you a prize. However, a gumball has been a quarter for my whole life. But more importantly, if something is costing you more than it takes to make it than why make it. Would Dr.Pepper hike their prices up if it cost them about twice as much to produce a can of soda than it does right now? Yes, they would because nobody can afford to loose money. The government needs to ditch the penny as well as the nickel, because they are useless and not cost efficient.
The years have not been good to the penny. After years of inflation, the penny's value has slowly declined. Costing 1.7 cents to make a coin worth 1 cent is more trouble than it's worth. Now granted other materials can be used as cheaper alternatives to zinc, but does the penny play that large of a role in today's market economy? The penny is the lowest valued currency in the American economy, and it's time to move on. Too much value is placed on the material used to produce money when in reality the American economy relies on the people's cooperation. A 100 dollar bill is made with the same amount of paper as a 1 dollar bill. Why shouldn't coins be produced in the same way? Maybe a great opportunity for America to save money is actually within the money producing process.
We should definitely rid of the penny as soon as possible. The costs of making pennies is way higher than the actual value of a single penny. You couldn't even make a penny with a penny's value. As a result, the additional costs from producing the "disgusting, bacteria-ridden disks of suck" cost the American nation and its people approximately 70 million dollars collected from tax payers every single year. The costs from penny production add on to the debt the United States that has inevitably racked up over the years. Additionally, people don't tend to use pennies as they should. We often find pennies laying on the floor without having anyone pick them up. Those coins end up on the floor without any purpose whatsoever. Even though the penny does appear handy when in need of exact change, the comparison between the benefits and costs suggests that the overall efficiency and validity of the penny is essentially obsolete.
pennies have outgrown its useful and it's time to get ride of them. it doesn't make sense to keep a coin in circulation if it costs more to produce the coin than the worth of the coin. That's crazy!
Seeing as how everyone seems to hate carrying around pennies in their wallets and pockets, it's fair to say that pennies are extremely annoying to deal with. Many of the people are saying "why not get rid of pennies if the cost to mint a penny is more than what the penny is worth?" Well, I read an article somewhere that stated that, for the fiscal year ending in September of last year, while it takes 2 cents to produce a penny, it takes 10 to produce a nickel. So who's to say that it's only fair to get rid of the penny? If the only reason to stop the production of pennies is because of the cost it takes to make them, wouldn't it make sense to just stop making coins altogether? Granted, prices to mint coins are decreasing, I still do not think that this is a good enough reason to stop minting pennies. I don't favor pennies, but I will say that pennies do add up. Ask the people on the streets begging for any amount of money. If all of us were to give those people our loose coins instead of wishing coins away, there'd be less hungry people in the world. Every penny counts!
Although the penny does have sentimental value and lincoln is pretty hot, the pennie's overall uselessness leads me to the conclusion that it should be removed from our currency. The pro-penny video fails to raise many valid points, yet John Green presents several valid points and his argument is significantly more humorous. Therefore, down with pennies...
While many may think that's it is disrespectful to Abe Lincoln to get rid of the penny, I think that it's a necessary and progressive move for America. I love pennies and they have been apart of my life as long as I've lived, but if the marginal cost of the penny is larger than the marginal benefits, it is a setback for the United States. Because of this, I believe it's worth getting rid of the penny.
I agree with John Green's idea regarding ridding the us economy of pennies. There is no point in minting a coin that, in most cases, lie on the side of the road, or under a couch. Economically speaking, it makes little sense to create something when the costs outweigh the benefits. In these times, 70 million could be well spent elsewhere.
I think getting rid of the penny is a good idea because we have reachedd an age where the value of a penny is so little in comparison to previous peroids. The cost of making the penny is exceeding the value.
I think getting rid of the penny is a good idea because we have reachedd an age where the value of a penny is so little in comparison to previous peroids. The cost of making the penny is exceeding the value.
I TOTALLY agree with John Green's passionate rant on how the penny is a useless currency. Why spend more money producing a penny than actually gaining a profit? It’s like you’re wasting money to make money. In all honesty, we are in huge amounts of debt. Why dig a deeper hole and screwing our economy up even more?
The Opportunity costs found producing the penny and the nickle are non-beneficial and are making the American currency counterproductive. If the penny and nickle are retired, then rounding prices to the 10's and 5's would eventually find a way in balancing itself out -especially due to the less counterproductive assimilation of "negative" currency.
I think the penny should be discontinued. The opportunity cost of the penny outweighs the opportunity benefit. The penny is more symbolic.
I agree with John Green, its way past time we got rid of the so called penny, since the opportunity cost is high and the currency is worth more than it really is, i believe we must use an alternative, metal or non metal, the probability of coming up with paper notes for a penny is very unlikely and not practical and the note would probably cost more than the currency value. using another substance in order to make such an undervalued currency is the right way as i believe, a material cheaper than copper. if that wont work out i believe its better we not have such a coin or other material, rather spent money in 5 cents and 10 cents coins than use ones.
I think that removing the penny would be completely illogical. Its the most basic form of our currency, so it offers a better way to do transactions. Additionally, removing the penny could hurt our economy even though the dollar is backed by faith in the government. If the money was backed by material goods, it might be different. But we cannot get rid of the penny, for it has meant much to this country over the years.
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The penny is too outdated for modern times. Back when a gallon of gas was 35 cents it was a power house and could be used to actually buy things like candy. Now a days I just collect large buckets of pennies, melt them down, let them sit in a homemade solution and I purify the contents to separate the copper to sell on the black market.
The penny is too outdated for modern times. Back when a gallon of gas was 35 cents it was a power house and could be used to actually buy things like candy. Now a days I just collect large buckets of pennies, melt them down, let them sit in a homemade solution and I purify the contents to separate the copper to sell on the black market.
I would say that getting rid of the penny would be a bad idea. Although the majority of society would say the penny is worthless, the opportunity cost is immense and would affect the U.S. economy.
Although John Green's idea is more reasonable to our economy, i agree with Lamarr Wilson. The penny has been apart of our history and the growth of this country. I feel like it would be horrible and devastating to get rid of it!Pennies may be very little and insignificant but hey, they are important to some people and have a valuable mark on this society!
I think it would make sense to eventually get rid of the penny as there is already such limited utility and use of it. The mere fact that it costs more to make than it is worth is striking enough, especially in the tough financial times our government is currently in.
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