Should We Get Rid of the Penny?

Today’s Wall Street Journal (March. 19, 2017, page R1; online version is here) printed  an article I wrote.  They asked me to be part of a debate on “Should the U.S. Retire the Penny and Nickel?”  I took the “no” side.  This is a follow on article from the piece I wrote for TheConversation back in August 2017 (see the original piece here) that advocated the same idea.  Because of space limits the Wall Street Journal edited down my piece.  Below is the unedited version: Continue reading

The penny may be worthless, but let’s keep it anyway

There has been a growing war on cash in an attempt to curb terrorism and tax evasion.  Much of the focus has been on abolishing large bills, such as the decision to eliminate the €500 note from circulation.  However, politicians are also targeting smaller forms of money for elimination.  U.S. Senators John McCain and Mike Enzi introduced legislation in March 2017 to eliminate minting of pennies and switch the dollar from paper to a coin only. Continue reading