A Penny Saved is a Penny Earned
When I think of the penny, my mind is flooded with images of Mason jars, full of the copper coins, arranged neatly upon shelves. The phrase ‘a penny saved is a penny earned’ echoing in my ears. For more than two decades the debate to keep or eliminate the U.S. penny has been without end. One side is stating that it’s no longer needed and the costs to manufacture far exceeds its monetary value. The other states that it would cost consumers hundreds of millions more to eliminate the penny, than it costs to manufacture it, in retail ‘round ups’. The need to eliminate the penny should be based on how much it would cost consumers and impact our economy, not how much it would cost to produce("Penny debate in the United States," 2017, para. 1-9).
The need to eliminate the penny has finally come. Most people wouldn’t pick up a penny if they passed one on the sidewalk; simply viewing it as worthless and not worth the effort. As of 2016, it's estimated that it costs 1.4 to 1.8 cents per penny to manufacture. In an age when most consumer transactions are done electronically, cash or coin is no longer king(DiChristopher, 2015, para. 5). Others see the penny as a tool to keep prices low. There is also the argument that pennies are bad for the environment, since they are …show more content…
Proponents of the penny view keeping the penny to honor Abraham Lincoln and teaching our kids to save. Elimination of the penny would force retailers to either round their prices up or round them down. When Canada eliminated their one cent coin in 2013, prices increased dramatically all over the country. It also caused their inflation rate to fluctuate up and down(Livingston, 2017, p. 3). Economists speculate that rounding transactions to the nearest five cents “would cost consumers more than $600 million a year(Livingston, 2017, p.
When I think of the penny, my mind is flooded with images of Mason jars, full of the copper coins, arranged neatly upon shelves. The phrase ‘a penny saved is a penny earned’ echoing in my ears. For more than two decades the debate to keep or eliminate the U.S. penny has been without end. One side is stating that it’s no longer needed and the costs to manufacture far exceeds its monetary value. The other states that it would cost consumers hundreds of millions more to eliminate the penny, than it costs to manufacture it, in retail ‘round ups’. The need to eliminate the penny should be based on how much it would cost consumers and impact our economy, not how much it would cost to produce("Penny debate in the United States," 2017, para. 1-9).
The need to eliminate the penny has finally come. Most people wouldn’t pick up a penny if they passed one on the sidewalk; simply viewing it as worthless and not worth the effort. As of 2016, it's estimated that it costs 1.4 to 1.8 cents per penny to manufacture. In an age when most consumer transactions are done electronically, cash or coin is no longer king(DiChristopher, 2015, para. 5). Others see the penny as a tool to keep prices low. There is also the argument that pennies are bad for the environment, since they are …show more content…
Proponents of the penny view keeping the penny to honor Abraham Lincoln and teaching our kids to save. Elimination of the penny would force retailers to either round their prices up or round them down. When Canada eliminated their one cent coin in 2013, prices increased dramatically all over the country. It also caused their inflation rate to fluctuate up and down(Livingston, 2017, p. 3). Economists speculate that rounding transactions to the nearest five cents “would cost consumers more than $600 million a year(Livingston, 2017, p.