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Is It Time to Kill the Penny?

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Re: Is It Time to Kill the Penny?

#71

Post by philistine »

UI_at_80x24 wrote: post #5

Yes. Canada stopped producing pennies in the fall of 2012. [0] The sky didn't fall. There was no great debate, no public opinion polls and politicians swearing heartily about the demise of our great nation. (Ok that's probably not true. For too many politicians that's all they do.) There was resistance when Canada dropped the $1 bill in favour of a Loonie (a $1 coin with the image of a loon on it). People bitched abo…

The rounding only happens on paper transactions. Since most transactions are made using plastic, where no rounding happens, the impact is terribly small.

You do realize you’re being guilty of exactly what you’re decrying in American politics? You’re over analyzing a minuscule impact that would result from a change to the status quo.

Re: Is It Time to Kill the Penny?

#72

Post by DonHopkins »

jcims wrote: post #49
jhoechtl wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Trashing money is illegal and sounds very unethical to me.

Why unethical? You’re giving everyone a small gift of deflation.

It's more ethical and efficient to burn paper money, if that's your goal.

Re: Is It Time to Kill the Penny?

#73

Post by ghaff »

smichel17 wrote: post #22
ShorsHammer wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I honestly can't understand why any country on Earth is still using paper for notes. Is basic materials science some bizarre foreign concept? And for anyone who thinks otherwise, I'm going for a swim with $300 in my pocket.

At least in the US, bills are much different from regular printer paper, closer to fabric. As long as you're not taking them for a swim regularly, they should be fine. (That said, when I've lived in Germany, I very much enjoyed the existence of €1 and €2 coins -- I've written about it on here before, if you're willing to scroll very far back in my post history).

>I very much enjoyed the existence of €1 and €2 coins

Uggh. When I travel in Europe--especially Germany with its remaining heavy use of cash--I hate coinage that is sufficiently valuable that I can't just basically ignore it. The US seriously tried to do a dollar coin (the Susan B. Anthony)--which was arguably ill-conceived for at least a couple of reasons but I'm very happy with US coinage being basically loose change although I'd be happy to eliminate basically disposable pennies and maybe even nickels.

Though to tell the truth I normally use cash so seldom and/or at so few places in the US that it probably doesn't matter.

Re: Is It Time to Kill the Penny?

#74

Post by paulie_a »

JoeAltmaier wrote: post #14

Go further. I haven't used coins in 10 years. Get coins - put them all in the 'penny tray'. Or give them to the cashier. Or hand them to somebody nearby. All else fails, toss them in the trash as I leave the store.

While I don't throw change out info not use coins ever. Any coins I get in change goes directly into the tip jar or change tray in the car or bucket at home. It's not going to be reused until I take a bunch of it to the bank.

I would say get rid of all change but if absolutely necessary keep the quarter. With cards being so prevelant who cares, they will stil have the exact amount. To be fair I think checks should basically be banned or not accepted anywhere. They are outdated forms of payment. We don't need to keep them on life support when they are not economically viable.

Re: Is It Time to Kill the Penny?

#75

Post by paulie_a »

nordsieck wrote: post #8
fit2rule wrote: post #3

Why kill it? Why not just re-value it instead? For example, make its value $1000. Would maybe be a neat solution to the 1% problem.

> Why not just re-value it instead? > For example, make its value $1000. The US used to have $1000 bills (and $10,000 bills, but those were only for internal gov't use). I'm pretty sure we're stuck with $100 as the top denomination to make organized crime more difficult. Also, it's WAY easier to counterfeit a coin than a bill.

In the EU a 500 note basically means you deal drugs. I think they were doing away with them entirely.

Re: Is It Time to Kill the Penny?

#76

Post by talideon »

stilley2 wrote: post #35
UI_at_80x24 wrote: post #5

Yes. Canada stopped producing pennies in the fall of 2012. [0] The sky didn't fall. There was no great debate, no public opinion polls and politicians swearing heartily about the demise of our great nation. (Ok that's probably not true. For too many politicians that's all they do.) There was resistance when Canada dropped the $1 bill in favour of a Loonie (a $1 coin with the image of a loon on it). People bitched abo…

> This is a key difference between US policy & Canadian policy that I have informally noticed while growing up on the border (with family ties on both sides). My wife's Canadian and I'm American, and we've discussed this point too. My theory is that Canada's parliamentary system generally puts one party in charge of the executive and legislative, so it's easier for that party to get things done. Of course there are t…

I don't think that's the case myself. While I do think that the parliamentary system is better than the congressional system, I think it's more that the parliamentary system emphasises consensus-building and executive accountability more. This is especially apparent in countries where a form of proportional representation is used for elections.

Re: Is It Time to Kill the Penny?

#77

Post by Mister_Snuggles »

UI_at_80x24 wrote: post #5

Yes. Canada stopped producing pennies in the fall of 2012. [0] The sky didn't fall. There was no great debate, no public opinion polls and politicians swearing heartily about the demise of our great nation. (Ok that's probably not true. For too many politicians that's all they do.) There was resistance when Canada dropped the $1 bill in favour of a Loonie (a $1 coin with the image of a loon on it). People bitched abo…

Another thing to remember about Canada is that we don't use cash as much as the US. Cash accounts for less than half (44%), by volume, of transactions in Canada. I'm not sure what the split between Interac (direct debit from your bank account) and credit cards is, but the mechanics of the transaction are almost identical - Interac prompts you for an account to pay from, both prompt for your PIN.

When you pay for something electronically, the rounding rules don't apply. If my bill comes to $10.42, I can save two cents by paying cash thanks to the rounding rules. But if it comes to $10.98, I save two cents by paying electronically.

Re: Is It Time to Kill the Penny?

#78

Post by hoorayimhelping »

klyrs wrote: post #46

As an American living in Canada, I gotta say. Pennies and dollar bills SUCK. We have $1 and $2 coins and they're actually useful. Every time I visit home, I end up with piles of pennies and wads of stinky, tattered, overcirculated garbage bills. If you accumulate a pile $1 and $2 coins, nobody looks askance if you plunk down a stack of them. But god, the glares if you want to spend $20 in dollar bills. I say take it…

It wasn't until I went to the UK in my late 20s that I realized how badly America needs coins in the dollar and two dollar denomination. Having spare coins with weight and mass rather than loose dollar bills helped me get a sense of how many loose singles I had, and being able to drop a couple coins on a counter to pay for cheap items (a bag of M&Ms, a cup of coffee) is somehow, I don't know how, but somehow more ergonomic.

Re: Is It Time to Kill the Penny?

#79

Post by klyrs »

DonHopkins wrote: post #70
klyrs wrote: post #46

As an American living in Canada, I gotta say. Pennies and dollar bills SUCK. We have $1 and $2 coins and they're actually useful. Every time I visit home, I end up with piles of pennies and wads of stinky, tattered, overcirculated garbage bills. If you accumulate a pile $1 and $2 coins, nobody looks askance if you plunk down a stack of them. But god, the glares if you want to spend $20 in dollar bills. I say take it…

Yes, nickles should definitely go. But since money is decimal, dimes make more sense. (10 cents exactly) But because of quarters you still probably need nickels. Or you could just go binary use halves, quarters and eighths.

> But because of quarters you still probably need nickels.

Only in the presence of dimes. That's why I say, cut them too.

Re: Is It Time to Kill the Penny?

#80

Post by throw0101a »

bumby wrote: post #53
stilley2 wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> This is a key difference between US policy & Canadian policy that I have informally noticed while growing up on the border (with family ties on both sides). My wife's Canadian and I'm American, and we've discussed this point too. My theory is that Canada's parliamentary system generally puts one party in charge of the executive and legislative, so it's easier for that party to get things done. Of course there are t…

So is that a bug or a feature of the US system? On one hand, beneficial change can be painstakingly slow. On the other, malevolent change can be stymied indefinitely Edit: clarify my statement was in reference to the US

> On the other, malevolent change can be stymied indefinitely

When the party that made the "malevolent" change is kicked out, then whatever they did can be reverted very easily.

Contrast that with: if passing anything is hard, and a "malevolent" change does manage to be rammed through somehow (e.g., one party controls things for a two-year period), then reversing it will also be very difficult.

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