Fox Business
Expand
Browse All Video
Watch Live

You're watching...

Time to Get Rid of the Penny?

Details

  • Description

    Citizens for Retiring the Penny’s Jeff Gore on why the government should stop minting the penny.

  • Duration 3:44
  • Date

Clips

Also in this playlist...

Latest Video

Auto-advance: ON

Auto-advance
View All

Transcript

This transcript is automatically generated

Is it time to pull the plug on pennies.

It's no secret renting the -- costs a pretty penny more than two of them in fact costing 120 million dollars to produce just fifty million in currency.

President Obama weighing in on this with his two cents on the one -- point -- the Google hang out chat last week.

-- is not going to be a huge savings for government.

But any time we're spending more money on something that people don't actually use that's an example of something we should probably change.

Joining me now to make sense of this issue Jeff gore MIT professor and founder of citizens -- retiring the -- Jeff thanks for joining us really appreciate your time tonight tell us why you don't like the -- what's wrong with the -- Well thank you for inviting me tell your show they've been partly to remember -- the point of currency which is to buy things in the penny just simply doesn't serve that purpose anymore.

On that wasn't always the case for example back in 1940 a penny of purchasing power of sixteen at today's cents which means that a few pennies because forgotten get a candy -- for example.

But -- just no longer worth -- well that's for sure but what about the economic impact of rounding up at the end of the day to get rid of the penny does that mean you.

Brown at all costs out by two wooden nickel.

No no and said reform proposal is to simply round of the nearest nickel to half the time the prices go down.

Half price -- -- -- -- so it would neither favor of the consumer nor the shopkeeper.

What if this is so important why do we done it already is there -- being group of people who love the penny -- -- to see go anywhere.

Well I think that there's just a natural sense that if something's not really broken and those no point going to fix it but.

Think especially now given the all of the arguments -- -- -- in Washington over the budget and so -- we should really be looking to see where we can make money.

-- government on it in ways that aren't gonna aren't.

Hurt anybody in particular nobody wants spending so we should stop making them.

Well in fact a bunch of countries of -- dropped their version of the penny tell me about that.

Well most recently you're probably referring take Canada.

Because their current currency systems really quite similar cars in just a couple weeks ago they retired there penny so there are no longer going to be using that point.

-- and it's no longer distribute them and indeed we're just they're just -- the nearest five cents.

You know I know that there are many charities that depend on pennies when they're trying to raise money for their causes this will not be good for them what do you say about that.

I think the important thing to remember is that.

It we can really collect money in many different ways and we don't have to use pennies we could use Nichols are times I think it's really not obvious that.

We're gonna be able to collect fewer Nickels and then we were and pennies.

-- I don't know I think a lot of people out.

There will be saying you know is -- But about that the piggybacked the bank can -- kids trying to save money and you know you take away an incentive we need -- when you take away the -- Well I think that we couldn't save money in many different ways and just because we have that coin that doesn't mean that it's something that we actually should be using for example we used to have a half.

-- in which not many people know about but we -- that back in 1857 because it just wasn't worth using and I think that's a very similar statement can be made about the pennies back.

You know here's what I think Jeff you're gonna start with a penny and then two years later -- -- be back on the nickel and then on to the dime in the quarter you got me nervous here mr.

How well I think that we should at least do the things that are totally obvious which is the -- never fed of course the penny has been our lowest denomination coin -- -- -- 150 years.

And over that time it's lost more and more of its value and given that the penny -- -- worth sixteen cents of course you could make an argument for the nickel and dime but for now we should just stick with what is totally obvious mass retirement and.

Well Jeff thanks for coming -- tonight you guys from MIT your pretty Smart good to talk to -- thanks.

Hi thanks for -- -- -- but.

Load More