Do you think that making pennies that cost more to make them then what they are really worth, is a waste of money or not? “In 2013, deficit in U.S. was 105 million on penny production.” (Huffingtonpost.com). U.S. tax payers are losing money on penny production. A couple of states have already eliminated the one cent currency. So why can’t we? However, I do understand how we might have to round up the money to a whole number if we didn’t have any pennies, but what if we made the pennies from recycled paper? I’m more then positive it will cost us less to make a paper penny.
When I was researching about how much it cost to make a penny I was shocked to learn that it cost a lot more to make a penny that what it really is worth. “In 2016, it cost 1.5 cents to make a single penny.” (Timemagazine.com). Why are we wasting money to make more pennies when there are a ton of them lying on the streets? There were many times that I have found more than 15 pennies throughout the whole week. If we would just use the pennies that are lying on the streets instead of making new ones then I believe we shouldn’t have to lose money on making new pennies.
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tax payers are losing money on penny production. Why should tax payers (you and I) lose money on pennies that a lot of people just throw them on the streets. Because of that the government has to produce new amount of pennies. In the Retire the Penny website, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia have already eliminated the one cent currency. However, even though it cost a twice as much as it’s really worth, there are some counterargument about eliminating
We strive on making everything more efficient. As stated by a www.globe.com article, “The National Association of Convenience Stores and Walgreens drug store chain estimated that handling pennies adds 2 to 2.5 seconds to each cash transaction (remember that we are including the occasional customer who spends 30 seconds looking for the penny in his pocket)” (Source B) That is a lot of unneeded time. When you get the penny back does it mean anything to you? It was also estimated that if you add those 2.5 seconds, it equates to 4 hours per year handling pennies. In keeping with the thrive and efficiency to move along in America, you can be using those 4 hours for something much more productive. As another example, say you are walking down the street and you see a penny on the ground, will you stop and pick it up? You most likely will not pick it up because it has no value. Now what if it was a nickel, or a quarter? Will you pick it up? Most people will definitely pick it up. A penny is just a waste of time. Finding a penny at the bottom of your pocket or in your bag drives cashiers crazy. There would be no need for this wasted time if we abolished the penny. The penny is stopping every great American from pursuing the next biggest breakthrough or
Do we really need pennies? The story of the penny starts in 1792; it came with several different coins including the dime, nickel, quarter, and half penny. The pennies were first made out of 100% copper, but the price of the copper went up, because of inflation, the power of the penny went down. The cause of the mint is to reduce the amount of copper in pennies first from 100% to 95% but then to 5% copper and 95% zinc. Despite the debate in 2006, the value of metal on older pennies rose over one year.
According to source #4, it states, “The one cent has influenced our language, giving us a number of idioms, such as ‘a penny for your thoughts’ (a way to ask what someone is thinking) and ‘not one red cent’ (meaning no money at all).” This is significant because it shows that the penny has affected the English language, giving the language more idioms to use. It is often said that pennies should not be manufactured anymore due to their excessive cost of manufacturing and distribution. Yes, numerous people do acknowledge that fact, but the government can also propose that pennies are to use inexpensive metal, like steel, which makes the entire coin industry save money and has the cost of coins to be cheaper to make.
Have a good look at the penny, what do you see? You probably see nothing but a copper coated circular poor valued cent. Little does everyone know pennies have been around longer than before their grandparents, even their great-grandparents! Matter of fact, it was around so long ago that Abraham Lincoln’s face was not the first design on the penny. I ask that you take the time to consider the American penny’s worth. Without the people’s belief in its value, the penny will be abolished. I see people every day throwing away a penny rather than to put it in their pocket and save it for future uses. Yes a penny is "outdated, almost worthless, bothersome and wasteful" (Safire) piece of junk, but it's has an economic, cultural, and historical significance to the United States of America. The problem is that nobody pays attention to that, and that gives pennies the image of no value. Three good solutions to show the pennies worth include: tolls and vending machines accepting the coin, more charities to keep their penny drives, and historical evidence of what the penny mean to America so that it can be passed on to the future generations.
There is a side to this debate where the penny could win and stay in circulation. To start, the penny has been around for years and years and it has seemed to work for this whole time. This is true, the penny has been around and can be used still in everyday life. The turn side of this, though valid, is with systems changing is is becoming more and more rare for the penny to have a true dire need. One other strong reason to keep the penny alive would be charity. Charity relies on those people who do not necessarily care enough to keep the pennies t drop them off in the donation box. That though, has a simple solution. If the penny were no longer around nickels and dimes would begin to be the change customers and users are no longer wanting. Charity then in result
Millions of Americans work full-time, day in and day out, making near and sometimes just minimum wage. In 1998, Barbara Ehrenreich decided to join them in part by the welfare claim, which promises that any job equals a better life. Barbara wondered how anyone can survive, let alone prosper, on $6-$7 an hour. Barbara moved from Florida to Maine to Minnesota, working in the cheapest lodgings available and accepting work as a waitress, hotel maid, house cleaner, nursing home aide, and Wal-Mart salesperson. She soon realizes that even the lowliest occupations require exhausting mental and physical efforts and in most cases more than one job was needed to make ends meet. Nickel and Dimed reveals low-wage America in all of its glory, consisting of
One of the main reasons that make people believe we should keep pennies is the fact that it will cause rounding tax. Mark weller claims that “Rounding tax” will cost consumers $600+ million dollars per year. However at the same time keeping the penny is costing businesses $700+ million dollars and they are wasting this money by paying cashiers to count pennies. This has been proven in multiple studies. During one study it had been shown that if the retail clerks and customer spend just 2.5 seconds per transaction counting pennies, those seconds add up to an estimated $700 Million dollars that the business has to pay its workers to count pennies. This is ridiculous! Why should businesses have to pay that much money if people cost their workers time. If you think about it you will see that all of this could be prevented by having the U.S stop producing and distributing
For the longest time pennies have always been known to be worth one cent but it's actually more expensive to make the penny compared to what it's actually worth. In an article by Jeff Sommer, “Penny wise, or 2.4 cents foolish”, he explains canada's decision of banning the penny and states that “each zinc and copper coin costs 2.4 cents to produce and distribute.”
As of today America’s national debt is 18 trillion dollars and approximately 5 trillion of that is held by foreign countries including China and Japan. In the last few years we seem to hear more about balancing the country’s budget and politicians raising the debt ceiling so we can pay on this debt. How have we gotten into such an overwhelming and complicated problem with our nation’s money? Ironically the same can be said for our individual household debt as well as making the same mistakes and trying to find creative ways to be accountable to our financial responsibilities. Teaching the basics of personal finance n our schools can culturally change our financial practices, leading to a more financially literate public and a stronger, more stable, America. If the younger generations can become more financially savvy, then there is an opportunity for our nation as a whole to become less dependent on debt to survive.
In America’s modern day economy, the penny is very useless and irrelevant in our society today. As source C states, “The time has come to abolish the outdated, almost worthless, bothersome, and wasteful penny.” There is not one item that can be purchased with a penny anymore (Source C). As source C states, “it takes nearly a dime to buy what a penny bought back in 1950.” Stores such as the Dollar Store prove how the cheapest items you can purchase are with only a dollar, not a cent. Pennies are shoved out of the economic picture by credit cards and because of the modern-day technology, there are even self-service machines that help convert coins into paper money (Source B). Furthermore, pennies are easily tossed into piggy banks or appear behind chair cushions. It is not used the same way as it was before.
One of the reasons why we should keep the penny is that it “remains popular with the public and [is] important to our pricing system” (Source D). In places like the European Union, “the smallest coin…[has] a value equivalent to one cent” (Source D) which assists in international commerce. Moreover, the penny’s value comes from its ability to “avoid the systematic rounding of prices” (Source D). In countries like
First of all, the penny should continue to be printed because discontinuation will cause inflation. In the article from the New York Times, Penny Wise, or 2.4 Cents Foolish, the author explains how getting rid of pennies will cause a price inflation. “Retail sales will be rounded up or down. … but retailers in the real world might raise prices more than lower them.” (Sommer) The evidence presented explains that getting rid of the penny will just give greedy business owners an
There is definitely no purpose and meaning in continuing the creation of these worthless objects. All they do to the United States is cause trouble, and they are clearly a bothersome to uphold them in our possession since they barely contain any value. Our economy would be fit with just dimes, quarters, and nickels as our coins. Abraham Lincoln, who was the president represented in this penny, would disapprove having his reputation and honor shown in a futile currency. The government needs to stop producing pennies. They create a loss of money rather than a profit; therefore, these copper cents need to be gone from our economy. What other choice is available? What can these pennies do in order to redeem their glory? It is nearly impossible to convince residents to use pennies once again. The penny has lost its value, and their dignity has become faint to us. It is time to eliminate pennies–for
This meaningless coin is losing money to the mint, and should be abolished. The penny costs 1.4 cents to manufacture each time at the mint. This is causing the mint to lose money to the treasury. Last year, the mint earned $730 million in profit. Many mint officials claim the estimate will be about $45 million due to the cost of metals made in pennies.
For the past three decades minimum wage has been seen to rise several times. Only helping some but more than anything harming most. So who are the ones feeling the effects? Certainly not the wealthy, it never is them, mainly it would be the working poor, unskilled and teenagers. Raising minimum wage would cripple the public even more than what it would actually help.