The Pennies: The One-cent Coins that Make No “Cent” Throughout ages, humans have developed civilizations in which we plant, we grow, we produce and we trade. During the development of each culture, people also developed various methods to enhance the flow and exchange of goods and services within the country and abroad. Mankind have moved away from barter to commodity monies such as seashells, stones, arrowheads… and eventually we introduced the banknotes and the coins, the two convenient media of exchange that we take for granted. In a gigantic, complex economy like the United States’, a versatile and functional medium of exchange has significant impacts. Even though the value of US Dollar has stretched and shrunk accordingly to the political, social and economic events within the States and around the world, our bills and coins made up a currency that is always regarded as stable and worthy. But regardless of the state of the Dollar and the economy, the penny has always been at odds with the progress; and the reason goes beyond it carrying a different color than the rest of its silvery brothers and sisters. Because of the wasteful cost to produce the pennies just to see them fail to fulfill their roles as a medium of exchange and not to mention the unexpected potential threat they pose to some of the most vulnerable members of our society, the pennies must be eliminated. Calling a penny worthless is an understatement because something is worthless when it is
Did you know the first penney the u.S. has ever seen was created and produced in the year 1857? The penny we know of has been in the states for 161 years. In the year 2012 there was a proposal that the United States get rid of the penny, the least valuable coin in the money system. The penny has so little value, but cost too much to make. Although the U.S. loses millions of dollars a year to the production of pennies, American pennies should not be ceased minting because of the risk of economic changes,the piece of culture they each possess and their “ power in numbers”.
The United States needs the penny today so they can get exact change. If someone owed three cents how do they pay it? The person would need a nickel, but they wouldn’t get two cents back in change. People would have more coins of higher value. If someone bought something for $1.97 they wouldn’t get change back, because there would be no pennies.
The author Gary Shteyngart of “Sixty-Nine Cent” describes himself in a tug of war between the Russian culture of his parents and the American culture in which he wants to be a part of. At the age of seven, Gary Shteyngart and his family immigrated to the United States from Russia. When he was fourteen, his family and other Russian immigrant made a trip to Florida to see Disneyland. He describes “the ride over the MacArthur Causeway to Miami Beach was my real naturalization ceremony”( Shteyngart 103). At that age, he wanted to be like every American born boy, He wanted to eat at McDonald’s, walk the beaches, and speak to the girls, and to enjoy what every boy his age takes for granted. One of his desires was to eat a McDonald’s
"The Penny Debate " by Brad Andrew is an article written to inform Americans about an ongoing conflict. Both sides are supported with good reasons; However, I think It would be beneficial to keep the penny. Based on the article, which implies that fellow Americas would lose much more than we're gaining. Things such as; Getting rid of the penny, Charities ran on coins will lose profits, putting U.S. Mint further in debt, and prices would rise. Many may think that eliminating the penny will be a plus, but aren't looking at both pros and cons in-depth for future references. Rather than getting rid of the penny altogether we could use a cheaper metal to produce
Barbara Ehrenreich's intent in the book Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America exhibited how minimum wage isn't enough for Americans to get by on and that there's no hope for the lower class. Her main objective was achieved by living out the life of the "working poor". During the three cases studies she worked many jobs that are worked by many that are simply striving to live day to day. The jobs she had didn't generate sufficient income to avoid or help her rise out of poverty, in fact the six to seven dollar jobs made survival considerably difficult. Enitially, she believe the jobs didn't require any skill but while on her journey she started to realize they were stressful and drained a lot of energy. In addition to that she
The penny must be eliminated as quickly as possible. The United States is in massive debt and instead of cutting programs which are vital to the economy and to citizens of the United States, the United States must find ways to cut expenses in parts that are often over looked. One great way to cut down on unnecessary spending is the penny. Believe it or not, the penny, the smallest denomination of currency in the United States is a huge waste of money. The one cent denomination has no use. You can no longer “buy anything with a penny” anymore. (William) The only use the penny has is to pay for the taxes, which, can be rounded off to the nearest nickel thus obliterating the need for a penny.
The penny is important to many because it can help with charity , sentimental and historic value.
The United States should get rid of the penny because it is people are not using them, cost too much, and other countries have already dropped the penny. The United States should get rid of the penny because we never use it, it cost to much to make and other countries have already dropped their penny. So if the United States gets rid of the penny it might affect the price in a increase but it also might affect them in a decrease so no matter what over this topic the world will not end and we will be
The U.S. penny has been a standard in our currency system for almost as long as our country has existed as a sovereign nation, but due to inflation, production costs, and the changing times we live in, it is no longer a sustainable unit of currency and only serves to increase our national deficit and waste our time. When the penny was produced for the first time in 1792 by the U.S. Mint, it was made of pure copper, featured a woman with flowing hair, and was inscribed with the words “Liberty”. Since then, the design and composition have changed numerous times to reflect our changing nation. Despite its fading glory, the penny has been kept alive by numerous false lobbying fronts and a stubborn ideology, but
In America, there is still a debate if the penny should be eliminated. If it was to be eliminated it would still be used, but in a minimal way. In Canada, the Canadian penny was eliminated due to cost, time, and the country believed it was a waste of money, “inflation reduced its purchasing power by 95% since it was first minted domestically in 1908: back then the cent could buy goods of the cost of $0.20, today in other words.”(The Economist). Once a small coin can no longer be used to buy individual items at that price, but it is only used to make change, it becomes more trouble than it is worth. Canadian pennies cost “1.6 Canadian cents to manufacture, and the government expected to save $11 million a year by eliminating them”(The Economist). But that sum equivalent to 0.0006% of GDP is small change. Canadians feel that eliminating pennies is that their feeble purchasing power means dealing with coins,
“A penny saved is a penny earned,” to quote Benjamin Franklin. Unfortunately a penny saved is not worth a whole lot anymore. Like many other once useful things the penny has become obsolete. The production and use of the penny in the United States monetary system should be abolished.
A journalist who has Ph.D in biology wanted to know how people could live with just seven dollars per hour. In Nickel and Dimed, the author, Barbara Ehrenreich, introduces how people live with low-wage jobs. She told that employers sometime see their employees as potential criminal, their employees' work environments do not suit for their works, and the employees's wages does not satisfy what they need to survive.
In Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America, Barbara Ehrenreich tells a powerful and gritty story of daily survival. Her tale transcends the gap that exists between rich and poor and relays a powerful accounting of the dark corners that lie somewhere beyond the popular portrayal of American prosperity. Throughout this book the reader will be intimately introduced to the world of the “working poor”, a place unfamiliar to the vast majority of affluent and middle-class Americans. What makes this world particularly real is the fact that we have all come across the hard-working hotel maid, store associate, or restaurant waitress but we hardly ever think of what their actual lives are like? We regularly dismiss these people as
The penny is practically worthless to many people in our country. In a Gallup Poll of 1,002 adults conducted from June 11 of this year displayed shocking results. Nearly 75% of those adults would stop and pick a penny that is present on the ground. About 40% of men and 35% of women would walk passed a penny that is on any type of surface. This poll also found that 58 percent of Americans stash their pennies in piggy banks, jars and drawers. Some Americans redeem their cents at banks or coin-counting machines, but 2 percent admitted they toss them into the trash. They consider the penny a nuisance to many fellow Americans. This sentiment has been growing through recent years. The penny is basically obsolete and should be removed from American currency.
less than they need to live on" ( 270.) A good percent of high school graduates move right on to college. They graduate college and then they usually move on to make a good amount of money to live a satisfying life. However, college is not made for everyone, and what would our world be with only professionals? I agree with Ehrenreich that the minimum wage is too low because, while people with open opportunities earn a better future for their families, many like my own, are fighting to get through on a daily basis due to our economy.