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?
143 comments:
From a macroeconomic perspective, all of John Green's reasons contribute to why pennies have outlived its usefulness. Although Lamarr Wilson provided satirical evidence to show how pennies could be used, it further emphasizes how much the purpose of the penny has abstained from its original objective of facilitating the exchange of goods and services. Pennies should be eliminated because it is causing excessive government spending, which could be used on other infrastructure to improve the quality of life.
Jun Hin Loi
Period 4
Shane Samuel
Period 1
I believe the vulnerable $.01 has outlived its usefulness because the cost of manufacturing the zinc penny is more than that of the value of the current penny. I am siding with John’s claim (“I HATE PENNIES”) because the 70 million dollars could have been used to “cut prices” or “used for charitable institutions” rather than being wasted on manufacturing useless pennies.
I think the penny is useless now a days because 1 cent can do nothing. I agree with the first video because not even vending machines can take pennies, where else would you use them? In the second video it was only talking about physical use of it but not how to spend it which is the main reason why pennies are worth nothing. Also saving a penny day is not realistic, most people wont do it. When you walk on the street and see a penny of the floor, people will ignore it
I agree with John Green’s ( I HATE PENNIES) claim as he explains how truly worthless pennies are. The idea of the government spending $70 million of the federal tax income every year on something that is only worth 0.01 is not beneficial for any of the people living in America other than the company in Tennessee. However, for the greater good of the economy, the government should not take the company into account for a reason to continue producing pennies as pennies neither cut prices nor can be used for charitable institutions as stated by John green. Moreover, the productivity cost of a $1 billion dollars of the American people every year for a penny is not something that is worth holding on to but rather damaging the economy in some way as much of the federal tax money could be used on other necessary and valuable goods and services.
Jestin Raju
4th period
I believe pennys have outlived their usefulness. This is because in todays society the penny is barely used when purchasing something unless someone pays in exact change, which not many people do. I agree with the first video because why spend money on something that is barely used? The money used in manifacuring them can be used for other more important things.
Adrian
Period 2
Although it would be hard to part with the penny out of pure nostalgia for the coin, I agree with John Green's video that logically the penny costs more than it is worth. The resources allocated to manufacturing and dispersing the penny could be much more efficiently put to use as the 70 million dollars used for the production of pennies could easily go towards social betterment or projects that would better serve the needs of Americans than having extra loose change.
Radhika Daru
period 5
Pennies are great! They never fail to entertain as I pay for my entire meal in just 2,000 pennies.
However, we should get rid of pennies as inflation making each cent worth less and less. If the nickel is the new penny, then what is the penny now? The answer is a burden. Green provides excellent points which indicate the uselessness of pennies. He even implies that pennies have negative value, which is something extremely inefficient in our economy.
Jeff Kue
2nd
Erin Randle
Per5
I agree with John and the "I HATE PENNIES" video. The penny is simply useless now. American is wasting to much money and should stop making the penny and use the money for something else. Like helping decrease the unemployment rate or fixing other issues America faces.
I think the penny should be retired because it is not needed in our modern society. There is no point in making it if it costs more than what it's worth.Since America also has trillions of dollars of debt I think stopping the making of the penny would actually be beneficial and could help America get out of that debt. Prices keep going up and eventually, the penny will be used less because of its low value.
Harshada Kulkarni
Period # 2
Obviously, I agree and side with all of John Green's points against the penny. They were all very logical and reasonable points except for the loss of Abraham Lincoln's face that would no longer be on any new made currency after the penny production is lost. My solution to this would be to produce a new type of currency more then 10 cents so the cost production would be less than or equal to the output of currency made and put Lincoln's face on that new currency. This will solve the only main deficit to the idea of getting rid of the penny and with this problem and solution I still undoubtedly side with the interest of finally ending the production of pennies.
I believe that the production of pennies has outlived it's necessary needs. As ages of industrialism has passed, the need for $0.01 is gone. Yes, we may lose the face of Abraham Lincoln, but is it worth the deficit caused but the penny production and the actual income it benefits? When looked into a microeconomic perspective, the individual consumer will least likely use a penny than any other form of currency. In a macroeconomic viewpoint, the penny does not benefit the economy as a whole. $70 million dollars goes to waste in the making of pennies. Money that could be used for better means of production and efficiency. The penny has been outlived.
The only logical answer about whether it is time for pennies to retire is that they are not worth it to keep around anymore. Their value has gone down so much and the cost to produce them leaves 70 million dollars out of the pockets of Americans that could use this money to solve other issues. All of John Green's arguments were valid and backed with accurate logistics while his counterpart based all his video on personal preference. The only way to maximize the efficiency of the U.S. economy is to look at issues such as these and do the most beneficial option for the economy rather than what is sentimental.
Julianna Hastreiter
Period 5
The penny should retire because it does not bring any value. When it was first used prior to inflation, it was worth that of a modern day nickel. However, now it is worth 1/100 of a dollar and is practically useless when paying for something. Not only that, but 70 million taxpayer dollars are wasted every year producing the penny which has virtually no worth when purchasing an item. Although price would go slightly up if the penny became extinct, we would ultimately save much more money by stopping the production of pennies.
Rendon Reinarz
Period 5
Josie Henry
4th period
Although Wilson's argument was very convincing, the penny is ultimately useless in today's economy. It is costing the United States Mint 1.7 cents to make a penny and John Green states that 70 million dollars of federal tax money goes into subsidizing the penny. This means we are wasting money on the penny that does not even need to be used. Money is used to exchange goods and services and today the penny just does not achieve the basic goal of money.
Aolin Yang
5th period
The penny should be retired. Although I disagree that the time saved by not fiddling around for pennies will add up arithmetically like that, I agree with the others reasons, that it costs more to produce a penny than a penny's worth. A penny is too little to do anything these days; back then it held more value, but with inflation its value is trivial.
Also the second video isn't really pro-penny; it's more like satire :))
After reviewing both sides of the debate, it is clear, in a practical and economic sense, that the penny is no longer useful, and rather just contains sentimental over monetary value. Additionally, the bottom line is that we spend more than we make, which goes against one of the central principles of economics when dealing with scarcity. The metal inside of these pennies can be used for much better things that is good for the overall economy, instead of wasting away the scarce, precious resources we have.
Elwin Mathew
Period 1
Ali Noorani 1st Period
Both sides of the argument have very good points, but in my opinion, I think we should no longer use the penny as it according to John Green wastes seventy million dollars annually in taxes. Those taxes can be better used for more important things in our economy. Also whenever someone goes out and buys things using cash the extra few cents are so negligible that the cashiers usually do not ask for it and thus there is no reason for pennies.
Alvin Yolanda Ewaldo
Period 1
Pennies are a great piece of history. However, the increasing inflation has devalued the coin and producing a single penny is worth more than it's worth. It would be crucial for the US to stop the production of pennies as the opportunity cost of making it is not as beneficial as maybe thinking about making a 50 cent coin. Sure penny can have its uses, like drawing a circle or pulling some party tricks, but it is a unit of currency that is now worthless and outdated. And with the increasing inflation in the US, it's time for the penny to end its reign.
Ashish Singh
Period 1
Pennies in today's economy are not worth keeping in circulation. It is not logical to produce pennies (or any other form of currency) at a price higher than its face value. In every practical scenario, one would choose to carry $20 worth of dimes over pennies. The cons of keeping pennies around greatly outweigh the pros (if there are any in the first place).
I am agreeing with John Green, the circulation of pennies is not useful to today’s society. The penny represents only a relatively small amount of currency used and is ineffective and unesscarily difficult for consumers to use. The amount of money wasted on the production of pennies every year is ridiculous. This money could go to other industries to better support the economy. Pennies might have been an effective at one time in the past, but in the fast-paced modern world their production has far outgrown their use.
Mia Harris
2nd pd
I agree with John Green as well because the penny is ineffective and does not have a major role in our societies currency today. Making a penny is worth more than the penny itself. The disadvantages to the penny outweigh the benefits of keeping this currency. It wastes 70 million dollars annually in taxes, which isn't worth the benefits of keeping it. In an economical sense, I would say that it is logical to get rid of it. Although the penny is a great piece of our history, it is outdated and worthless. Stopping production of the penny is a better option for our nation as a whole and keeping it leads to excessive government spending.
Housna Kadrie
2nd period
Kevine Jaimon 5th Period
I agree with John Green mainly due to the fact that we are wasting 70 million dollars in taxes on the production of pennies. In today's society many people don't view the penny as a useful source of currency. Although there are plenty of ways in which the penny can be used, there are many cons as well; making the production of pennies as worthless and useless.
I completely agree with John Green and his argument against pennies. The millions lost each year from making pennies is a complete waste and should be changed. 70 million dollars of federal tax money goes into subsidizing the penny each year which is money that can be used elsewhere to benefit the U.S. economy. Prominent figures such as former president Obama also agree that pennies should be eliminated. Although pennies represent our history, it is time to lose them. We should stick to using valuable currency such as dimes, quarters, fifty cent coins, and paper money.
Cameron Walker
Period 4
I agree with John Green sincemaking pennies is also, making us lose more money than it should ot make it. Since we can make a billion dollar a year and use that money to pay off the debt the US owes instead which will help the economy more. Alos the fact from the video how he say that machines don't take pennies is true which make it more worthless than it said to be. The only good thing about it is its sentimental values.
Kevin Sani Period 1
Tackling the problem as economics students, John Green makes valid points in his argument to retire the penny. The main point of economics is to make the most out of limited resources and if the opportunity cost of making a penny is not favorable to our economy since it takes more money to make a penny than the actual worth of a penny, then it should be eliminated. There is only so much zinc and much more useful products can be made with all the zinc and copper saved from minting pennies. People don't even use pennies often and even a gumball machine requires at least 25 cents. Even if pennies are required to provide change back, it would be better if we used a different material where our opportunity cost would be less.
Epstein Jacob
Period 4
Okay so, Wilson attempts to make a point in keeping the penny by saying they can be used for fun tricks. He's not wrong as you can find many uses for them, the most practical using them for toll booths. In essence, i came to realize that with the penny is such a specific unit of currency it can be used to give exact change and the exact amount of toll booths. Without the penny, how will people pay for items that are $5.04? And if $5.10 is given, how will you be given back the extra $0.04? As Wilson makes a valid point, on a realistic level i would have to agree with John Green on his argument that the penny is not so good. I strongly agree with his argument that producing a penny costs an extra $0.07 to make even though it's value is only $0.01. That would mean the U.S. loses money in making the penny that for what its worth. I can't say i fully agree with John on his argument, but i side with him more so that Wilson because of the economic factors entailed.
Matthew Yee Period 1
Realistically, John Green has the stronger argument. I agree that pennies should be eliminated because at one point in history they were useful and important, but looking at current economic conditions the penny has become "worthless." Pennies might be useful for small tasks, however 70 million dollars annually are wasted on their manufacturing; that is more than what they are actually worth. This money can be used to improve the standard of living in the country. The penny also leads to a productivity cost of $1 billion every year; saving this money and investing it into other more important things can really grow the economy. All in all, there is a chance that eliminating the penny will cause a small increase in prices but the price increase is not significantly huge, and so it is better to focus on the money that can be saved and be put to better use.
Kriti Bansal
Period 5
I think pennies should be reminted to replace the nickel. It would regain its profitability in production as well as reduce the wasted resources spent on nickels. And who cares if we retire the nickel in favor of the penny? I would much rather see Abraham Lincoln’s face than Thomas Jefferson’s. The re-mint would need to be a notable enough change such that the penny is easily identified as different from pennies in the previous years, but other than that, there would be no issue in officially altering the value. Overall, I do think that a one cent coin should be removed from our currency system.
Matthew Whaley
Period 4
I am on John Green's side, which is that pennies are useless now. Pennies should be removed from our system, as they are not even worth much and takes more money to create this one cent. As Green says, only that one zinc company is benefiting from the creation of the penny and no one else. Peoples' tax money is going into the production of this one cent that we can't use for most things now, such as some toll booths. Overall, the penny is not valuable to us anymore as it was in the past and should retire from being created and used.
Cassie De Leon
4th period
Both sides of argument seem to have valid reasoning behind their beliefs, but in my opinion, retaining the penny would be useless. As our country already faces a huge amount of debt to be paid off, wasting 70 million dollars of federal taxes targeted toward making pennies, is unreasonable. The penny does not seem to have much value or use because it only benefits one company called, the Jarden Zinc Product and is worthless and very expensive for all other U.S. companies. Lastly, I agree that the penny is not effective in facilitating the exchange of goods and services, because it is true that even in places where we expect to use pennies like for parking meters or vending machines, the machines do not accept them. I believe that instead of investing our tax money towards making pennies, we should invest our taxes into something more worthwhile and beneficial to the U.S. economy as a whole.
Ashel Jaimon
Period 4
I agree with John Green's argument, primarily because it is the only legitimate economically based argument here. Even if we did double a penny each day of a month to get ten million dollars worth of pennies, imagine how much money the government would waste making all of those pennies! Even the other man's arguments for pennies are basically invalid (the video is hilarious though). But creating pennies does harm our economy and should be stopped or at least changed to somehow make them worth more than nothing, even though it may inconvenience which prices we can actually use.
Pamela Gheriafi
Period 4
Pennies are such a low value that they aren’t used efficiently and only cause nuisance and uncomfortability using them. Vending machines don’t take pennies and using them in face-to-face transactions are uncomfortable.
Nathanael Tan
Period 1
Pennies are worthless. They cost us money to make, which means as John Green said, their real worth is less than nothing. In fact, we might as well get rid of all coins as a piece of currency. Just hang on to them to look at our old presidents. Other than the sentimental value found in lugging around metal pictures of dead presidents, basically all coins are worthless. We might as well do away with all of them. Paper money is where it's at. The Chinese got it right first when they first made paper money, and the rest of the world is still trying to catch up (Blatantly ignoring the fact that Chinese coins exist). So really, we should all be like the Chinese and use paper money.
Using resources efficiently is the whole point of economics. It has been undeniably proven that the penny is economically efficient and as John Green points out, the opportunity cost making coins gives us all the more reason to get rid of them. I would suggest keeping a few as a memento and then recycling/repurposing the rest, without spending any more resources on its production. As entertaining as he is, Lamarr Wilson does not provide any valid reasons that would justify the millions of dollars wasted in its production. (Seriously, why would you use a pennies for bookmarks when you have actual bookmarks?) As prices will always keep rising, the worth of penny will keep on diminishing and hence, keep producing them would be a needless waste of resources.
Rakesh Johny
Period 1
I agree with the side that the penny is useful. Prices will increase if we get rid of the penny. If we eliminate the penny, everything will have to be rounded to the nickel. Merchants and other businesses will probably round everything up in their favor, costing us more for everything we buy.
Raoof Ali
Period 5
Kyuri Baag
Period 4
Although I do not feel passionate on the topic of whether to keep or stop using pennies, I found the website http://www.retirethepenny.org very convincing in their arguments as to how producing pennies actually hurts the economy as they waste time during cash transactions, are not cost-effective to ship, and cost more than twice their worth to produce. Furthermore, getting rid of the penny does not mean that prices would increase as demonstrated by the Department of Defense who stopped using pennies overseas (cash transactions ending in 3, 4, 8, or 9 cents rounded up, those ending in 1, 2, 6, or 7 cents rounded down). Price changes balanced out. Because the website hyperlinked in the post's title refutes several myths related to getting rid of the penny and provides several strong arguments, I side with those who believe that it is time to retire the penny.
I agree with John Green in that the penny is useless. It costs more to make the penny than it is actually worth. We are wasting $70 million of federal taxes on the pennies, which entirely is meaningless. This money could be used elsewhere to better help the economy. The penny is outdated, and most people do not use it.
Raina Abraham
5th Period
I agree with John Green because the penny is useless. Making the penny cost more then the actually price of the penny. If we just had 10 and 50 cents and a dollar we could we saving more money and using that money to employ more people into the workforce which would help our economy. Using the penny is costing the U.S. more money and the government should see this and knowing that the U.S. is in debt, the money saved could help in paying off a small part of the debt the U.S. has accumulated. What they also know is that the penny drains about $900 million of the nation income every year this is huge and without the penny that $900 million could go back into the national income which could help the nation in whatever financial needs is needed.
Michael Chan
4th period
After watching both videos, I agree with John Green because the penny costs more to make than the actual value of the penny. Therefore, the metals used for the pennies should be used for more useful things that would be beneficial to the economy, instead of being used to make a currency that costs more to make than its worth.
Tom Joseph
4th Period
I agree with Tom Greene, as he literally proved how useless a penny is. it costs more to make a penny than it is worth, is costing the U.S. millions and even billions indirectly. The other guy had completely useless points, just listing out the random games and activities to do with a penny, which can be done with any other coin. Pennies need to get retired.
Janice Wilson - Per.5
I agree with John Green; the penny is useless. It costs more to make the penny than the coin is actually worth. We are wasting millions of dollars each year on making pennies, that much money could be used elsewhere to better help the economy. The penny is rarely used and prices going up slightly is worth getting rid of the extra coins. The metal used in making pennies could be used for something that actually benefits the economy, instead of costing it money.
I agree with John Green’s reasoning in retiring the penny. Pennies are now ineffective due to the 1.7 cent cost to produce this 1 cent coin. With this, it leads to 70 million dollars of federal tax money gone to subsiding the existence of the money. As years pass, things become obsolete, with pennies being one of them. Furthermore, it isn’t worth the time and money to continue with this form of payment.
Alexis Chan
5th Period
I agree with John Green that the penny is useless. The making of a penny, which can be used to create more efficient things for the economy, costs more than it is worth. Federal tax using up to make the penny is actually being wasted. The time, money, and effort used to make a penny can be used to do better things. The second video doesn't really discuss how a penny can be beneficial to the economy but rather outlines how a person can benefit from a penny individually. John Green clearly wins the argument.
Meryem Pecen
1st Period
It is highly evident that the penny is negatively impacting our economy. We should shift the resources, including the workforce, being used to create the penny for more substantial products. The website and the two videos show that pennies ARE economically detrimental to the majority. With all the evidence provided, I must agree that the penny has outlived its usefulness.
Matthew Reyes
1st Period
The penny should be retired due to the cost of producing a penny outweighing it’s actual worth. The waste of precious tax dollars towards a coin only worth $0.01 is neither practical nor efficient. Consumers will not have to carry around these coins and can save the environment by no longer using already scarce resources for this pointless object.
Jenina Bianty
5th
I do agree that the penny has outlived its usefulness, and both videos really show the extent of how useless a penny is for our economy. The amount of money we use to make a penny is wasted and could definitely be put to better use. The only real reason people wish to keep pennies, like John Green says, is for sentimental reasons. That raises the question- why haven't they come up with a compromise? Why not just change the materials and save the extra money not being used and still have the penny. It seems like the most logical solution so that means there has to be a good reason not to as well. Maybe the amount of time to change out the materials takes too long or is too expensive, probably more expensive than actually removing the penny itself. either way, we are wasting a lot of money to keep up a tradition and while I'll be sad to see the penny go, I agree that the penny should be retired.
Sanyoni Desai
Period 5
According to John Green's video the long-lived penny is losing value due to inflation and is losing more money in the general economy than it does gaining like what he said it takes 1 billion dollars worth of opportunity cost to make pennies year round when we could use that 1 billion dollars in something that is better for the economy such as research for more fuel efficient cars or another way to replace fossil fuels.
Jonathan Ngo
Period 2
I agree with John Green's opinion against the penny. Both of the men in the videos made it completely obvious of how useless pennies really are. The real value for a penny being made would be 1.77 which is just wasting money to make 1 penny which is useless in our economy today. To make pennies is the opportunity cost of spending on something else in the economy or government where we really need. I think the penny has outlived its usefulness and shouldn't be made anymore. The only real reason as to why people would want to keep the penny would be, like John Green said, would be because of memories.
Camille Trusclair 1st Period
I agree that there is really no need for the penny any longer. For the pure fact that making a penny is more costly than the actual value of the penny alone should be enough to abolish the use of the coin. Additionally, the copper used in making the penny could be used to make something useful.
Crystal Obaretin, Period 1
I concur with John Green's opinion that the United States no longer has a use for the penny. One reason being that it is worth less than what it costs to create one. The opportunity cost is too high for something worth so little. It would benefit the economy as well as the people, who don't want a bunch of worthless pennies lying around.
Kevin Yu, Period 2
While I don't have the hate towards pennies like John Green demonstrates in his video, I do agree that pennies are useless in our daily lives. As John Green argued, it costs the United States 1.7 cents to create one penny which holds less value than what it costs to make that one penny. Therefore, the U.S. is wasting its time and money to generate millions of pennies when the U.S. can invest that money in healthcare and education funding (70 million dollars of federal tax money to be exact). In my personal life, I can't recall the last time I used a penny because there are other valuable coins to use like quarters and dimes. Overall, the investment to create pennies should be stopped.
-Anne Dang, 4th period
The penny should not be made anymore due to wasted money for less money. According to John Green, it takes more money to make a penny, which comes out to be an opportunity cost in money that could be useful for spending into another part of government or the economy. Also, we don't really use pennies anymore; we mainly use cash. The prices are going up, and the penny becomes more and more useless in our economy.
Jacob Rice 1stPeriod
I think there needs to be a penny in this world because it is the smallest unit of payment in our country. It doesn't make sense to completely remove this unit from our money system because it would cause so much work for businesses to change all their prices for goods and services to have a monetary value of 5 cents at least. Lastly, as John Green stated in his video, although it does cost $1.71 cents to create one penny, it would not be logical to completely remove the penny because governments will essentially be throwing away $70 billion dollars.
- Rithvik Bommareddy, 4th Period
Danni Hertel
Period 1
I do not agree with the penny being made anymore because it costs more to make it than the actual value of the coin. John Green says exactly that, and also that the money used to make pennies can be better spent on more important things in the government. Coins are a dying breed and cash is taking over. In addition to that, as prices are inflating, pennies are becoming a rare item that we use on a day-to-day basis.
Michelle Phan
5th Period
I agree that we should get rid of the penny. Stated by John Green the penny cost more to make then its actual value, as cost 1.7 cents to make a penny is only worth 0.01 of a dollar. That adds up to the government wasting about 70 million dollars in federal tax money that could be invested in something else. Also the fact that the penny has almost no value, you would not even be able to buy anything with it. A lot of people do not even reach for cents in general when paying for items, so citizens are also wasting money not using cents. Therefore, we should get rid of the penny, since it is essentially nothing.
I believe that we should get rid of the penny. It cost more money to make a single penny than what it is actually worth. It costs 1.7 cents to make a penny when the actual value of the penny is only .01 of a dollar. They are also considered very useless and waste of time for many Americans.
Jackson Stanley | 4th Period
Unfortunately, I have to agree with John Green's stance that the penny is reaching its expiration date. Other than its small use in giving change after transactions have been made, the obvious fact is that the opportunity cost of making, or even just fiddling to gather pennies adds up to a lot. Personally, I think a gradual shift to an American economy without pennies would be beneficial in the long run, due to inflation and increase in values, which could easily be accomplished by citizens taking their loose change to get cashed in.
The penny is pretty much useless now because very few people are willing to carry around exact change. It is rarely used in any purchases and has such low value in the prices of today’s products that there is basically no point in carrying it around. Also with the higher use of credit and debt cards today, the penny has very little usefulness.
I completely agree with all of John Green's arguments against the penny. Not only are they worth less than they cost, but the impracticality and hassle that comes with fiddling with them also costs us money in lost productivity. The 83 things you can do with a penny do not compare in the slightest to the losses it is causing to the U.S. economy. The argument about doubling the penny for a month in the other video is irrelevant because no one is going to do that. You can put one cent on a credit/debit card easily without the physical weight of carrying the virtually useless coin.
Elaine Thong
-2nd Period
I agree with the Retire the Penny movement and John Green in that we should retire the penny. From an economic perspective, we are wasting money making pennies as something that is worth 0.01$ is made at a cost of 0.017$. So for every dollar in pennies made, 70 cents is wasted. From a consumer perspective, the penny is not worth that much on its own anyway. Most of the time I forget about the penny I get for change. Let's say I was to buy the McDonald's 12$ Texans deal, with tax it would be 12.99$. If I were to pay 13$ in cash, the cashier would give me 1 cent in change, and that one cent is not even worth the energy to put it in a safe place for later use. Also using credit and debit cards, change is not even a thing most people worry about, so retiring the penny is the wise decision.
I agree with the argument in which John Green presents against the penny. Penny's cost more money to make than they are actually worth (worth .01 of a dollar and costs 1.7 cents to make,) therefore there is money lost in production for these nearly useless coins that usually end up in peoples cup holders in their cars. In the world that we live in today, it is much easier to put money on your debit card rather than lugging around the coins. Despite the 83 things that a penny can be used for, this does not nearly out weight the downfalls in their production cost and practical uselessness. The United States is wasting money on investments that can be used elsewhere such as healthcare, and we should retire the penny.
-Taryn Gheen
Period: 5
Sahil Shah
Period 2
We should get rid of the penny. The penny has outlived its usefulness in the American economy. The way prices have risen today, the penny can not be used to purchase anything. Rather than facilitate trade to grow the economy, the penny has contributed to the national debt. When an item costs more to produce than it is worth, it should not be produced anymore. The concept of opportunity cost is something we learned early-on in economics and this is a prime example of using opportunity cost.
I agree that it is time to retire the penny mainly because it is quiet useless. A penny can't even buy a penny because it costs 1.7 cents to make one. We are wasting money and time on a small currency that many don't even use anymore. Producing pennies also uses a great deal of energy. It takes energy to extract the zinc, to make the coin, and then to finally transport the coins to banks. Because pennies are worth so little, they’re much heavier than any other coin in proportion to their value. Also it is quite bothersome to count out pennies when making a transaction.
Jyotis Joy
5th Period
I believe that we should remove the penny from our economic system because it no longer serves a great value to the economy. The penny cannot buy a a single thing in the market as inflation has increased prices radically. Removing the penny may even lower prices as businesses will round prices down even more to keep it under a whole dollar value. The penny costs the economy a higher price than they are actually worth and negate the value of the coin. Pennies usually end up under a table or between your car seat and are never used again. These coins should be eradicated from the economy as soon as possible and use those resources for other things.
Abraham Pazhoor
Period-1
I agree with John Green’s argument that the penny is futile and shouldn’t be used anymore. Since they cost more than what they’re worth and because they come with such a large opportunity cost, it is impractical to keep producing them. Factoring in the hassle that comes with counting them while even purchasing items, along with production costs, its is not worth keeping this unit in our economy.
Shweta Mathews
Period 4
The purposeful extinction of the penny is a necessary evil. The creation of the penny causes a loss of money because the creation of the penny costs more than the penny itself. We lose an overwhelming amount of money that could potentially stimulate the economy. Also, the use of pennies hinders our level of productivity. The cons far outweigh the pros which is why we should eradicate the unnecessary penny.
-Ambareen Virani
Period 4
Naomi Samuel
Period 5
I agree with John Green's I HATE PENNIES video. The point he made about pennies being worth what a nickel is worth today back in 1976 stood out to me. In addition to that, pennies cost the government so much money, that come from our taxes, to create these pennies. With that being said, most Americans tend to just lose pennies or save them up and never use them. That is why I believe that pennies should no longer be in use.
Jeremiah John
Period 2
I agree with John Green and his idea to get rid of the penny. The cost it takes to makes pennies is more than what a penny is worth. That point made stood out to me the most. Also, it proves to be more useful to just store a penny virtually in a credit or debit card rather than have it in hand where it is not always useful and it is inconvenient at times. Pennies no longer serve a purpose and they are basically just irrelevant nowadays
Tanmay Shah
Period 2
Despite the sentimental value that the penny carries about American heritage and one of its oldest currency printed in US history, the US Mint must stop producing more pennies. I agree with all aspects of John Green's video, "I Hate Pennies." Pennies cost the US economy heavily in money and time. By producing money worth more to make than its actual value, the US Mint is generating lower circulation money. Additionally, pennies do not fulfill its actual purpose as money which is to facilitate trade and commerce.
I have to agree with John Green that we should get rid of pennies because they are useless. John Green states that 70 million dollars of federal tax money goes into subsidizing the penny. The value of a penny is 1/100 of a dollar, but it takes 1.7 cents to make a penny. We are wasting time and money to make pennies that are worthless today.
Jibin Philip
2nd Period
Alan Cummins
4th Period
As the evidence suggests, the production and circulation of the penny should be discontinued. This is mainly due to the fact that a penny costs around twice its worth to manufacture, alongside high costs of transportation. The Canadian government abandoned their penny in 2012 and all values/prices were rounded to the nearest 5¢, and it has worked.
While Wilson’s I LOVE PENNIES video was funny and entertaining, I have to agree with John Green. The penny has become quite useless in today’s economy. Because it costs more money to produce pennies than pennies actually cost, we are losing a substantial amount of money to the production of pennies. The value of pennies, both sentimental and financial, is not worth the millions of dollars in federal tax money that goes into producing them.
Jessica Merhav
2nd Period
Dominic Kochen 1st Period
While both videos were mildly entertaining and provided reliable statistics on the usefulness of the penny, John Green's opinion stood more reliable to me. The simple 1.7 cents to create a penny only worth 1 cent is enough to convince me that pennies aren't worth making. Plus without the penny prices would be less complicated, operating in only frequency of 5,10,25 rather than all the way down to one. Overall I believe that creating pennies is a waste and a drain on our economic resources and without this extra cost the economy could be far more powerful.
Although pennies have a sentimental value in American history, the production of pennies is doing more harm than good. It takes more money to manufacture the penny than its worth and this is hurting our economy. If we stop its production, it could actually help boost the economy and this has been proven right as we saw what happened to Canada when they dropped their penny. Pennies tend to get lost or saved up to where they never really serve their purpose. They are more useful to be stored through a credit card than physically in a consumers pocket. The production of pennies are a waste of time, energy, and money.
Although pennies have a sentimental value in American history, the production of pennies is doing more harm than good. It takes more money to manufacture the penny than its worth and this is hurting our economy. If we stop its production, it could actually help boost the economy and this has been proven right as we saw what happened to Canada when they dropped their penny. Pennies tend to get lost or saved up to where they never really serve their purpose. They are more useful to be stored through a credit card than physically in a consumers pocket. The production of pennies are a waste of time, energy, and money.
Lauryn Weller
period 4
There are several reasons why I agree with getting rid of pennies. One of the reason is that pennies are useless because nowadays you can't buy anything with pennies. Prices are increasing every year, it's not the 90's were one single penny mattered. If you try to pay anything with a penny, you can get dirty looks from the cashier. Vending machines don't even accept them anymore. As John Green said in the video, pennies now cost more to produce than they are actually worth. It cost 1.7 cents to make 1 cents. So basically the government is losing money when it produces pennies. Therefore, the production of pennies should be discarded
Ayana Mathew
4th - Period
It is evident that the penny is not worth keeping in the U.S. currency since it costs more to produce than what it is worth. It is also very impractical since pennies cannot even be used in vending machines and other facilities. Although many retailers and companies would have to change their prices to accommodate for the loss of the one-cent currency, it would help the U.S. economy in the long run since money would not be wasted on the redundant and counterproductive production of the penny.
-Erik Shoga
Period 2
period 5
I agree that the manufacturing of pennies should stop. Although they have remained in American currency for generations, there is no benefit in continuing to make pennies as they result in the loss of money rather than gain. Also, pennies as well as other low value coins have been considered annoying to keep around for the most part and are the used when paying for tax.
Justin Kuzhippil
period 5
I agree that the manufacturing of pennies should stop. Although they have remained in American currency for generations, there is no benefit in continuing to make pennies as they result in the loss of money rather than gain. Also, pennies as well as other low value coins have been considered annoying to keep around for the most part and are the used when paying for tax.
2nd Period
I agree with John Green: we should definitely retire the penny. Day-to-day consumer costs are rising at a rate that pennies can't really compete with anymore. The fact that the US wastes money to produce pennies that nobody uses should be enough to end their production. Plus, Wilson's video kind of proves that pennies are worthless since most of his reasons to keep them don't really focus on actually spending them. There's a reason why in store transactions, people say "keep the change." Realistically, no one has the time to deal with pennies.
Luke7463 is Luke Matthews Period 2
Tejiri Okukpe
Period 1
Although I found both videos entertaining and informational, I have to agree with Wilson. I believe the production of the penny should be continued. For many years, we as Americans have survived with the penny and we still do today. I do not see any reason why pennies should be eliminated. If we were to eliminate pennies, all prices would be rounded to the closest nickel and the overall price of everything would increase. With that being said, pennies should continue to be produced because of the beneficial impact it has on our economy.
I agree with John Green that the penny should be discontinued. This is because as Green stated 1.7 cents is wasted a year and leads to a millions of dollars wasted to create a coin that is more expensive to produce. Also the fact that most people use credit/ debit cards is another major factor because as the years go on less and less people are using coinage. Now while I see the sentimental value of a penny to some people, it ultimately just doesn't make sense to continue manufacturing something this is more expensive than its worth.
Jerry George
2nd Period
I choose to side with John Green, to retire the penny. Pennies cause more harm than good. John Green states in his video that pennies take about 1.7 cents to produce, but in the market is only valued at 1 cent. Moreover, the penny never really served a purpose, as consumers cant buy anything with a 1 cent coin. Therefore, it is more practical to retire the penny and stick to using higher value coins, starting with the nickel. Retiring the penny would also boost our economy in the long run.
Zoheb Khawaja 5th period
I personally believe that we should keep the penny and not get rid of it. If we removed the penny we would have to round up or round down prices by the nickel. Many people fear that the rounding up would increase the prices of what they buy. Pennies are made up of majority zinc and if the penny would be discontinued then many of the zinc suppliers would lose their contracts and make less money. The penny has said a lot about the past of this generation and should not be removed for old times sake as well.
Sena Pecen
Period 5
I agree with John Green because if the opportunity cost of producing a penny is greater than the actual benefit, then we should choose to save as much possible cost and stop producing the penny. This can help our economy thrive and get rid of the burdens that come from producing an unworthy material. Sometimes change is necessary for a while in order to better the economy, and in this case, although the penny has been in our lives forever, it is time to start saving the economy.
Elizabeth Stech
Period 4
In my opinion, I feel that the penny should be discontinued. The cost to manufacture a penny is almost twice the value of the penny itself. In addition, more people are relying on debit and credit cards in order to pay for things. Because of this, the penny is more of a nuisance rather than a valuable form of currency. I think that Canada's idea of rounding up all prices to the nearest five cents would be beneficial in the U.S. economy today.
Waseem Khalil P4
I do not like the penny. Not only do they cost 1.7 cents per penny to produce but so many of them go to waste. I know personally that if I get a penny I just throw it away. Imagine how many other people do that too. The penny has got to go. If you want to buy a $0.01 product, we can just use credit cards to facilitate that transaction. There is no legitimate use for the penny. All the arguments by that 🅱️razy man about why we should keep them are not good reasons to be honest.
I agree with John Green from the vlogbrothers because he makes a compelling argument, while the second video is majorly a comedic response with no economic or practical arguments proving why the penny is useful. The penny costs almost double the amount it is worth to make and we lose almost a billion dollars in productivity because of it, so the penny should stop being produced. To refute the other arguments about price increases, John additionally brings up studies that were done that say it would not cause it.
Natalie Dye, 5th period
Emily Tran
Period 2
I agree with John Green, that the penny is worthless in our economy today. The penny costs 1.7 cents to produce which means that it takes almost twice as much money to make as it is actually worth. Also, many places/machines that take coins don't even take pennies as usually only quarters are accepted. People are also starting to turn to electronic paying, using credit or debit cards to make their purchases now. For these reasons, there is no legitimate point for the penny to be of existence.
I agree with John Greens video because he makes a good argument against pennies. They cost 1.7 cents to make while their only worth 1 cent. That combine with the cost it takes to transport and distribute them and the fact that most people either lose or trade in their pennies makes them basically worthless. We would save a lot of money if we stopped producing pennies.
Sarika Vura
1st Period
I agree with John Green's accusation on the penny being useless because he was gving facts and research in his argument. The other video on the penny being relevant did not have enough evidence and was more of a comedy. The penny costs more than the value of the penny of itself, which costs us nearly a billion dollars in production. Penny's are not taken seriously in this time anymore because people dont value them and would rather throw them away then keep it. The extinction of the penny would not even raise prices accoring to Johm Green, which proves the other video is wrong. The penny costs too much which is why I agree with John Green.
Steve Raju
5th period
I believe that the penny has outlived it usefulness. Pennies cannot used to be pay at vending machines or at parking meters, and they are very cumbersome to carry around. Additionally, pennies cost more to make than what their value is. Pennies are so inefficient that they are costing the country millions upon millions of dollars every year. Therefore, the penny should be retired.
Natalie Romero 2nd period
I agree with John Green rather than the second vlog post because John states valid points about the penny. The cost to making a penny is almost double its value. The money spent to manufacturing pennies can instead go towards bettering the economy. Pennies are useless in a way that most machines such as vending machines and parking meters, do not accept the penny. Most often, pennies would collect in a persons pocket and soon become unacknowledged after being placed elsewhere.
Denise Doyle
period 5
John argument makes a good argument against pennies in which mirrors my individual beliefs. The penny is practically worthless in todays economy, and more expensive to make than what it is worth. Furthermore, this coin is actually potentially harming our economy, because the money in which is invested into the production of pennies can be used elsewhere. Realistically, because of the convenience of debit cards, no one lugs around coins anymore, especially ones as useless as pennies. Retiring pennies is the best idea to benefit out economy.
-Marcus Ellis
1st period
The production and circulation of the penny should be stopped. Seeing that a penny costs us twice as much to produce than it is worth, and alongside the high costs of transportation we should stop producing pennies. In 2012, the Canadians stopped the production and distribution of their 1 cent coin and to this point it has had no negative affect on their countries economics.
Jordan Jacobson
period 2
I agree with John Green's video because I believe he states reasonable arguments against pennies. The idea that stood out to me the most was that pennies cost significantly more than what it is actually worth. There's so much money that is put into the production of pennies (large scale) that could be used to make other things. Second of all, pennies are extremely inconvenient. They are usually the last payment option for customer's to use. Everyone either pays with cash or cards when they complete a transaction. The retirement of pennies can truly benefit the United States.
Aleena Mathew, 1st period
I actually disagree with what John Green says about the penny being useless. While the argument of how it actually cost 1.6 cents to make something with the value just 1 cent, in reality its effect on the whole economy is worth much more than that as without it then all prices will increase. This is because of how without that extra little .01, store owners will have to round up to the nickel, forcing the buyer to pay more also killing the .99 Cent Ranch business. Another issue is that many charities are classified as penny charities to show that even the smallest amount of donation can make big changes, but now without them those organizations too will be force to shutdown.
I agree that pennies are no longer viable to be used in america. The arguments made against it show how it is no longer useful to our economy. the fact that only one company is the only beneficiary of the use of pennies still being in circulation is enough proof that the penny is no longer useful. It is also a logical conclusion that once something cost more to produces than t is actually worth it is no longer useful to have in circulation. that is why i advocate against any further use of the penny as part of american currency.
Mitchell Arwine, Period 4
Jamie Chaffer
Period 1
I do agree that pennies have been outdated. It is important to make accommodations for progression through time. What the value of it once was, does not remain to be the case today. Some prices would have to change though, being that there are prices that do not end in a multiple of five. Overall it would be a better decision to stop making pennies in order to save the economy more money and stop wasting it on things that do not benefit us.
Alan John/Period 5
I believe that it is counterintuitive and counterproductive for the United States to continue to print $.01 pennies. Firstly, it costs more to produce a penny than the actual cost of the penny itself. Second of all, the need for carrying/using pennies is becoming more and more nonexistent as the years progress. People rarely use pennies, and even cash is becoming somewhat of a rarity what with the convenience of paying with cash or via technological means. And finally, pennies just tend to stack up and remain unused. People most often think of them as a nuisance, so getting rid of pennies would benefit a large percent of the American population.
Kale Wicks
Period 4
Overall, it would seem that pennies serve a lackluster purpose in today's day and age. From an economic standpoint, they're quite inefficient and just a hassle and it would make sense to get rid of them. However, I believe we should keep the penny. From a consumer standpoint, the change in prices that would need to be made could have drastic drawbacks. The government having to decide whether to round prices up or down to make up for the money lost creating pennies and to make up for the now useless currency. I think we should keep the penny until a better alternative is created and can be implemented ASAP.
Both sides have their pros and cons. But in my opinion, I agree with John Greene because the country is already in debt so why use more money to keep the penny when it costs more than it's worth. The penny takes 70 million dollars from our taxes to make which could be used in other ways to benefit the US.
Charli Escobedo
Period 4
America should keep the penny in circulation because it fills an invaluable niche that America could not function without. First off, all the haters above are all mentioning how the penny is worth less than the costs of its creation. While this may be true, this is literally the cost of doing business. Even though it costs the government 70 million dollars a year, based on the knowledge that 171 million people paid stocks last year (Forbes), this means that each person would only have to contribute less than 41 cents. Secondly, if the penny is abolished, everything will get rounded up making everyday items more expensive. This includes taxes too because a rate of 8.25% won't yield a value that ends in a 5 or 0, meaning pennies will have to be used or taxes raised. Less expensive items are going to feel this rounding-up more heavily. For example, penny stocks, which Mr. Pye defined as costing less than $5, are so low in value that even a few pennies are worth a significant percentage of the stock's value. If you wanted to buy a thousand shares of a stock that costs $1.01, but it's price increased to $1.05 in order to compensate for no pennies, you would have to pay $40 more due to this ~30 percent increase in cost. Now this is a very extreme case, but the point is, the more of a cheap item you have to buy, the more money you'll lose to due to the absence of the penny. Lastly, more nickels will have to be made in order to compensate for the loss of the penny. According to Mr. Green's video, the nickel is worth almost two times less than the costs of its creation. But if the nickel is banished just like the penny, as Green suggested, then our currency will only have one decimal point of precision, making it ten times less accurate than with the penny in circulation. In conclusion, despite the very satiric video of Lamarr Wilson, the penny does indeed have a valuable place in our world.
Ronald Hood Jr.
2nd Period
Aylin Sanchez
2nd Period
To be honest I disagree and I agree with the statement about pennies being useless. The reason I disagree with this is because from my experience, having pennies in my pocket had helped me have enough to pay my groceries and necessities. However, I agree with the statement because the U.S is spending more money to make them then what it’s worth and considering the future economic problems we might have, making pennies might not be worth it. So basically both sides has their pros and cons.
Pennies (and nickels) over all are just impractical, and we should get rid of them. They waste money to produce, as much as a billion dollars a year according to the John Greene video. And to be frank, its actual monetary worth is an very small sum of money, so forth the amount of pennies one would actually need to carry around to buy something of actual value in day to day life is impractical. Thusly, for this reason we should get rid of it.
Jacob Mallory
5th Period
The U.S. should stop making the penny and the nickel. As said in John Green's video, it costs more to make the penny than how much the penny is actually worth. This is just contributing to increasing the dept the U.S. is already in. Also, most people do not carry pennies with them because they are of such little value that people do not mind losing them. The U.S.economy should stop making the penny and with the money the U.S. used to put into the making the penny, put it into bettering the economy another way so the U.S. will not be in such a big dept.
Abin Manuel
5th Period
The idea of the penny sounds like a good idea, but over the years it has honestly lost its value and usefulness. In this day and age the use of a penny doesn't make a lot of sense as most people use credit cards and give the pennies as a tip (if they use cash). Since it cost more money to manufacture a penny than what it's actually worth, it sounds like America/the government is losing more than the work they're putting in. I say pennies were useful in their prime, now they are made useless. I agree with John Greene when he says that pennies have become ancient and useless to almost everyone.
Sarah Sultan
4th Period
Essentially, both videos have the same side. It would be more practical to no longer utilize the penny, and perhaps nickel, but there would be other problems that come with it. So many things would have to change in order to change one insignificant thing that is not really a problem. If the U.S. switched to people driving on the left side of the road, there would be a lot of changes and a lot of confusion, the same would happen with changing any part of the currency. As far as money goes and the cost, it really is not important. Debt for the most part is meaningless In a country that has a decent to good economy. The U.S. has a good economy. It is a problem for countries that have weak economies and show no signs of paying back their loans, such as Greece. Also, there are bigger problems right now than whether or not we should have a penny or a nickel. So I guess I thinj the penny should go away but not until it is actually necessary
Robert Slaybaugh
4th Period
Swati Kundra -1st Period
I believe that the penny should be discontinued. This is because it costs more to may then it is worth, and it is costing the American economy money. This means that our economy is not as efficient as it should be. If discontinuing the penny, a coin that will not damage the economy with its disappearance, will contribute to fixing this problem, then it should be abandoned.
David Lowery
Period 4
I disagree with John Green. I believe that the penny is still useful and that it has a purpose. If we were to get rid of the penny then the next smallest currency is the nickel, which is what all prices would round too. Businesses could round up prices in their favor, and goods and services more expensive for us as consumers.
I agree with John Green's claim that the penny should be removed from America's money system. The arguments he uses to criticize the penny are rational while the arguments for keeping the penny are purely comedic. The fact that it costs more to make it than it is worth is an important factor in removing it. Pennies are also a hassle to deal with because of how small in value they are worth and that's why they should be removed.
Bryan Ta
4th Period
Pennies are just downright inconvenient. I cant even use them for the library printer because it doesn't take pennies. Not only that, but they're inefficient to make too, costing the us more money to make a penny than what a penny if actually worth. However, I wonder what would have happen to prices if the penny was actually discontinued. Menu costs could be be an issue for both producers and consumers.
2nd period Kyle okeke
Wesley Cherry
Period 4
The penny has clearly outgrown its usefulness for the simple fact that is costs more to make a penny than it is worth. Ths means we waste money every year creating currency that is barely used. Due to inflation over the years, pennies have become more and more worthless. A penny is currently worth 24 time less than it was during abraham lincolns time, meaning there is less reason to use them. Eliminating pennies would save billions of dollars for the government. And this is not a new occurence. Production of the brittish half penny was discontinued in 1969. Logic, thus, dictates that pennies should be discontinued and not used as currency in the united states.
Sainath Krishnamurthy
Period 4
I agree with John Greene. With the manufacturing cost of one cent being 1.7 cents, its value is negative. We lose 70 million dollars of citizen tax money for the production of this useless coin. This money can be used elsewhere. Businesses find pennies as a hassle. The production of pennies are a waste of time, energy, and money. Also with a large push in credit/debit cards and online payments, pennies tend to be useless and are a waste of production.
Sang Kirsten Ebueng
2nd Period
I cannot recall a single time in my life time that I bought something for a penny. The only purpose they serve is making my wallet heavier. It costs more to produce a penny than it us actually worth, so the US economy is actually hurting from keeping it in the monetary system. We can see in countries, such as Canada and Australia, where the smallest monetary coin has been phased out that it is not detrimental to the overall health of the economy. The only things holding the United States from following is the its sentimental value and oddly specific tax values.
Personally I do not believe that we should continue to use pennies mainly because almost everything in today's world uses cards and online transactions. Very rarely do people use cash as it is, and it is even more rare for people to use coins, mainly pennies. As the world continues to develop, so does technology. One day, the use of cash will become obsolete because most likely everything will be some form of online payment or via cards. The switch to this will start with us getting rid of coins, and I believe the penny should be the first.
Kenneth Easo
4th Period
I would have to agree with John Green when it comes to the penny. It is dumb that it costs more to make the penny than it is its actual worth. The next point is how the US pays 70 million dollars just to lose a billion in production time. the two only real reasons the penny is still being used is because of the number of pennies there are in the country right now, and the sentimental value of the penny, and how people do not want to let go of something that they have used their whole life, but in all honesty, the penny is truly worthless.
Stephen Kelly
Period 4
I believe the penny has served its purpose and should no longer be used as a value in our currency. John green brings up many arguements Against the penny such as it costing more to make the penny than what the actual penny cost. Let's be honest, most people hate getting pennies, we either throw them away or save them in jars never to be used, even most vending machines and coin machines don't take pennies. Although Lamar Wilson gave a funny rant about the use of pennies , the cons to the penny out weigh the benefits.
Yash Parmar 5th
I believe that the penny should be kept. This is because prices that are any other mutiple other than .05's, they will go up. This will cause long term inflation to a certain extent. Not only will retail prices go up, manufacturing prices will go up. This means that manufacturing cost will be passed to the customer and the retail markups will have to be payed by the customer.
Amber Montemayor
2nd pd
I agree with John Green regarding what should become of pennies. It is clear that pennies have outlived their purpose and, at this point, have proven to be detrimental to the U.S. economy in general. Since it costs more to produce pennies than they are actually worth, they have a negative value. Additionally, pennies are simply useless in this country, where paying with exact change is becoming exponentially less frequent due to the use of credit cards and the growing popularity of paying online. Personally, I find pennies to be very inconvenient; on the rare occasion that I end up with pennies after paying for something in cash, they always end up staying in my wallet for ages before I transfer them to some other container that takes up space. In sum, pennies have become useless and should not continue to be produced.
Shiv Patel
Period 2
I agree with John Green regarding the fate of pennies. Clearly, pennies have served their purpose throughout history, and due to inflation over time, they are now essentially useless to us. Furthermore, it costs more to make pennies(and nickels) than they are actually worth, so as John Green stated, we, as tax payers, "pay 70 million dollars to have the opportunity to lose 1 billion dollars" for simply sentimental reasons and tradition. There is simply no use left for a penny and the price to pay for sentimental reasons is simply too high. This money could easily be put to better use, so the production of the penny should be terminated.
Bryce Del'Homme
Period 5
I believe that the penny is still useful to an extent that it helps balance the cost of something to an exact degree and helps to be as precise as possible, but like most other nations, its time for the one cent to go. The fact that every other nation has already ditched said coin shows that it was found to be useless everywhere else. There are very few times when anyone in America can say "glad i had that penny". Nickels are more versatile and at least a little more useful but still exact to an extent.
Personally, the penny is still useful in everyday life. As discussed in class if the penny were to cease to exist then the price level would have to increase by .05 cents because our lowesr coin would be a nickle. Although, it does cost more to make a penny than the actual value of the penny it is still useful in many ways. As a supporter of the penny, I though the second video was technically correct and hilarious. There are many things that pennies can do;however, their importance are clearly unappreciated. \
Sophie Wedgeworth
Period 5
I agree with John Green because of his factual evidence of inflation making the production of pennies worth more than the cost of the actual penny itself, and all the uses of the penny could be replaced with other things, the reasons weren't even substantial "really a book mark?" the fact that everyone responding to this throws their penny in the middle of their car and later on throws them away should make them actually ask themselves how their going to keep a penny in a book or in the pocket long enough to actually use it.
Bill-bradley Anyanwu
period 4
Isabel Zhou
Period 5
The penny's purpose in the money system is useless as their production values are higher than their actual cost value. It is wasting time and resources as it cost 1.7 cents to make 1 cent. Money is to help ease trade and business by having the same currency, but the insignificant value of the penny does not contribute or alter much to the economy or market. Due to inflation, a penny cannot buy anything in the market as prices has increased dramatically.
In my opinion, I agree with John. The penny has become a useless currency, and as John stated, it has been dropping in value since its creation. The cost to make a penny simply is not worth making the penny. We could save a lot of money if we halted just the production of pennies, which has not been in proper use for a long time, and spend that on more important issues. At this point in time, a penny is only valued so that people can make a wish and throw them into a fountain. I am sure many people can agree, simply no one carries pennies around anymore with the intention of spending it. The penny can only be seen as sentimental to some, as its value is near nothing now, and might even decrease more as time goes by.
-Mohammad Ejaz 4th period.
Jubin Joseph
- Period 5
I believe as John Green said about the penny outliving it's purpose is true. In our economy, the penny is a liability because it needs more money to produced compared to what it's worth. In our evolving society that depends on credit cards and paper money, coins, especially pennies, have become a nuisance. Nowadays, people don't like having loose change therefore having things such as pennies has become useless in general. It was useful in the past, but it's something that needs to be removed. By doing so, the economy will thrive better than it is now.
Kedar Pandya - 2nd Period
Pennies are an unecessary form of currency because most currencies exist in larger nominations. Most people use credit or debit cards and even those who do not use cash. Most prices have risen to the point where a cent is not even 1/100th of the value of a given good. Thus, pennies are useless because they fail to provide any value to the economy. Stopping the production of pennies limits the amount the government spends at the US Mint and reduces government spending allowing cutbacks on taxes to be more likely.
Daniel Martin- period 5
The penny should be gone because it pretty much useless now adays. Its worth is to small and most people just use credit cards. The Us is also in debt so the cost of the production of pennies will help on that. Pennies have its history, but i believe one of these days they will become extinct
I am on John Green's side of the argument declaring that we should get rid of the penny. Though it is not one of the most dangerous issues in the United States, and is not necessary to be fixed immediately, since it does not really aid our country in much of a significant way I do believe we rid it entirely. Especially since John Green clearly entailed that the opportunity cost of the penny is just way too high for what it is actually worth.
Priya Thomas 2nd period
Getting rid of the penny would be a good idea, because though it is not literally worthless in that is it $0.01, the value of it and its capabilities is pretty much useless. Inflation has terrible effects on the coin decreasing it's value rapidly. The saying time is money can be used in this scenario as mentioned in the article that every penny wastes an average of 2 seconds per transaction. When weighing the pros and cons it would be better to get rid of the penny overall.
Roshan Mathew
1st period
Pennies aren't completely useless but the Opportunity cost of creating them and carrying them around is too high to keep them circling in the U.S. economy. The cost to make a single penny is almost double what it is worth and the amount of our budget that goes to the penny is astronomical. While the second video made a good point in that pennies can be saved up, in the growing age of technology where the majority pay their expenses with a little plastic card rather than carrying around cash, the personal opportunity cost is too high to ignore. Where are you going to save 50000 pennies to have 5000$ at the end of the month? Its impractical and a waste of time, and space.
Aileen Ramirez
Period 1
Voiding our society of pennies would not have a major effect on our economy. The penny itself isn't an imminent economic problem so there's no rush to change whats not hurting us. It's mainly that the penny value is .01. Saving pennies is not only a hassle but an inadequate way to save money. Yet the loss of pennies would have to update our medium of exchange. Example if you pay 5 dollars and they give you back two dollars and thirty-three cents there has to be something to replace the penny.
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