The United States Mint unveiled four new penny designs today that commemorate the life of our 16th President Abraham Lincoln. I'm still not fully recovered from the thrill of the Sacajawea dollar and the 50 State Quarters, so this announcement really rocked my world.
Seriously though, do we even need pennies? I remember reading some compelling arguments in favor of retiring the penny in my favorite economics blog a while ago (yes, I have a favorite economics blog). So I went over to Marginal Revolution and was reminded of these interesting points:
1. It sounds conspiratorial, but the penny retirement discussion is often squashed by special interest groups aligned with the zinc industry.
2. Pennies cost more than $0.01 to make.
3. Would prices go up or down? Probably up, but not by much.
I vote to abolish the penny. My apologies to the zinc miners of America.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
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