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Canada ditches the penny

globaltvedmonton.com

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Re: Canada ditches the penny

#71

Post by huetsch »

kmm wrote: post #5

A brilliant decision. Now if we could only get rid of our 1 euro cent here. According to some inflation figures I quickly found on the internet, a (US dollar) penny had a hundred years ago 23 times as much buying power as a penny nowadays. That means the smallest denomination was then was worth almost as much as a quarter is now! People could get by without smaller coins then and they should be able to work perfectly…

This isn't all true: The US used mills (1/1000 of a dollar) up until the 1960's.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mill_(currency)

Re: Canada ditches the penny

#72

Post by tabbyjabby »

yay_cloud wrote: post #65
huggyface wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Say that it's a "smoke screen" is needlessly partisan. It is, indeed, a line item. It deals with something that has come up for consideration since the 80s . If it gets attention, it gets attention. But do you think no one notices the other changes because they're ditching the penny? That is preposterous.

It might be construed as a partisan comment, but that is exactly how politics works. After working on a few campaigns (and leaving in disgust), a politician or party will gladly pocket an easy but visible decision like this in order to "steal eyes" away from other -- less positive -- changes or events.

Ok, but in this specific case, the premise of this being an item that is stealing attention away from the more significant cuts in the budget simply isn't consistent with reality. Go to any national Canadian newspaper. The headline will not refer to the elimination of the penny; it will refer to changes to Old Age Security, or cuts to the CBC. The penny has been but a footnote to budget news. The reason that is the only item of the budget getting attention on HN is because I don't think any non-Canadian HNers really care that our retirement age is now 67, or that health transfers to the provinces have been reduced in this budget.

Re: Canada ditches the penny

#73

Post by rogerbinns »

randlet wrote: post #13

"They cost more to produce than they are worth, nobody likes them, they have no commercial value." My very first (very primitive) public facing webpage was dedicated to abolishing the Canadian penny. Good riddance!

CGP Grey has an excellent youtube video on the whole issue for the US. The US currently makes 4 billion 1 cent coins annually. And they have already been abolished at US military overseas bases.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5UT04p5f7U

(Come to think of it, doesn't the US military use a lot more metric system than the general population. If so, this would be a good reason to increase the military since it would appear to be the only way progress happens!)

Re: Canada ditches the penny

#74

Post by true_religion »

maratd wrote: post #68
yay_cloud wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It might be construed as a partisan comment, but that is exactly how politics works. After working on a few campaigns (and leaving in disgust), a politician or party will gladly pocket an easy but visible decision like this in order to "steal eyes" away from other -- less positive -- changes or events.

> "steal eyes" away from other -- less positive -- changes or events. How is cutting waste less positive? They're conservatives . They get bonus points for cutting things. Now, if they passed tax increases, then you've got a point.

There's cutting fat, then there's cutting muscle.

The two aren't too similar, but I wouldn't want anyone cutting into me who wasn't a surgeon.

Now with politics, we often have people who claim to cut waste, but are perceived as cutting necessary programs.

Re: Canada ditches the penny

#75

Post by skylan_q »

cperciva wrote: post #36
dstein wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

from reddit: SR&ED is [reorganized.] Whew, so it's not completely axed. If anything Canada needs significantly more investment and tax programs like this. Brain drain has always been a problem for Canada because of the lack of investment from the government and the lack of tech-oriented VC.

I was hoping for SR&ED to be completely axed. It's a huge monstrosity of paperwork, to the point that small businesses pay 30% of their tax credits to consultants who fill out the forms for them and large businesses hire teams of people for the sole purpose of tracking and classifying SR&ED expenses so that the tax credits can be claimed. I suspect that Tarsnap is eligible for some SR&ED credits, but it's simply not…

From what I've heard, they're getting rid of tax credits and moving more to an RFP or grant-based system.

Re: Canada ditches the penny

#76

Post by unconed »

cperciva wrote: post #36
dstein wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

from reddit: SR&ED is [reorganized.] Whew, so it's not completely axed. If anything Canada needs significantly more investment and tax programs like this. Brain drain has always been a problem for Canada because of the lack of investment from the government and the lack of tech-oriented VC.

I was hoping for SR&ED to be completely axed. It's a huge monstrosity of paperwork, to the point that small businesses pay 30% of their tax credits to consultants who fill out the forms for them and large businesses hire teams of people for the sole purpose of tracking and classifying SR&ED expenses so that the tax credits can be claimed. I suspect that Tarsnap is eligible for some SR&ED credits, but it's simply not…

I've filed SR&ED claims for multiple years for a successful startup. It was a) incredibly valuable and b) incredibly easy.

That said, I do know there are plenty of zombie companies that filed SR&ED claims with a bunch of handwaving and hogwash in it. In fact, it was recommended to me to not make any project sound like it's finished: that way, you can file again next year.

But if you waste 30% of your credit on consultants, you're the one being an idiot, not the government.

Re: Canada ditches the penny

#77

Post by aoprisan »

mmastrac wrote: post #3

This line-item is basically a smokescreen for cutting all sorts of other important things (like the research tax credit, SR&ED; various social programs; the budget for our national broadcaster, the CBC; and the salary of the Chief Electoral Officer): http://www.reddit.com/r/canada/comments/rjrfn/the_budget_5_b... Amusingly this particular cut was actually a private member proposal from the NDP (the left-most mainstre…

how is this even remotely a smokescreen? it will save money and lower costs for businesses in the long term.

Re: Canada ditches the penny

#78

Post by aoprisan »

mahyarm wrote: post #55
ww520 wrote: post #52

Does that mean pricing psychology would work differently? 19.99 would be out of fashion?

It will turn into 19.95 to keep the same psychology. Many stores already vary the last digit to mark the status of the item. Such as 97 for clearance items and so on.

actually, it'll be $20.00

Re: Canada ditches the penny

#79

Post by artursapek »

aoprisan wrote: post #78
mahyarm wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It will turn into 19.95 to keep the same psychology. Many stores already vary the last digit to mark the status of the item. Such as 97 for clearance items and so on.

actually, it'll be $20.00

I sure wish it would. I never really understood the supposed psychology behind .99 and .95. To me, three nines looks less welcoming than three zeros.

Re: Canada ditches the penny

#80

Post by NZ_Matt »

jowiar wrote: post #49

Ridiculously simple solution: Drop the hundredths place entirely. Kill pennies, nickels, quarters, bring back $.5 pieces. A tenth of a dollar is enough precision for any realistic transaction in the United States.

New Zealand removed the 5c coin form circulation in 2004, leaving us with $2 ,$1 , 50, 20c and 10c coins. Electronic card transactions are charged to the nearest cent and cash transactions are rounded to the nearest 10th.

The transition was straight forward and I didn't hear any complaints.

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