Gore's Argument For Removing The Penny

In 2001, Jim Kolbe (a member of the house of representatives) proposed a bill to congress to remove the penny from the American currency. Although this bill was rejected, there were many individuals who agreed with the it. Looking at the proposal from a logical point of view, it would make sense to remove the penny from the American currency as it becomes a nuisance to the common civilian and it costs more to make than it is worth.

Wasting the time and pocket space of the common man, the American penny still holds strong as the smallest denomination of our currency system. Sure they come in handy to pay off the last 2 cents on your grocery bill or to donate the bare minimum to the charity box at your local McDonald's, but other than that their existence creates an inconvenience for everyone. In source A, Kahn quotes his friend Gore. He states, “The point of currency is to facilitate transactions... people are fishing through their pockets, the cashier has to open a new bag of pennies. For me, it's the waste of time I object to.” Gore makes an excellent point in determining the worth of the penny, it creates a hassle. For example, if someone walked into a store and purchased an item for $1.50 with a tax of 7% the item would come out to $1.61, just enough to need a penny, but where is it? He searches high and low in his pocket for …show more content…
The penny creates an inconvenience for everyone as our monetary system focuses on its use even though its value is miniscule. That time spent looking for pennies in line at the grocery store could be spent on other thing instead of wasting everyone else's time. Also, the penny in itself is a waste of time as it is valued less than its material cost and much less than its labor cost. This means that as more pennies are produced the government will continuously lose money. In doing away with the penny, many of this nation’s economic problems might actually be