One Cent

Canada has been on route to getting rid of the penny.

From wikipedia:

"There have been repeated talks about getting rid of the penny as it is estimated that it costs the Royal Canadian Mint 1.8¢ to produce a 1¢ coin, even though the Royal Canadian Mint claims it costs only 0.8¢ to produce a penny. The Canadian penny costs at least $130 million annually to keep in circulation, estimates a financial institution (the Desjardins Group) that called for an end to the penny. The Mint refuses to release the cost, citing competition, despite having a monopoly. According to a 2007 survey, only 37 percent of Canadians use pennies, but the government continues to produce about 816 million pennies per year, equal to 25 pennies per Canadian.

"On March 31, 2008, NDP MP Pat Martin introduced a private member's bill that would eliminate the penny from circulation. The Swedish rounding system is the suggested replacement for cash transactions. In mid-2010 the Standing Senate Committee on National Finance began a study on the future of the one-cent coin.

"On December 14, 2010, The Senate finance committee recommended the penny be removed from circulation, arguing that a century of inflation has eroded the value and usefulness of the one-cent piece. Presently it costs more to produce each penny (1.5¢) than it is worth monetarily. The Royal Canadian Mint has been forced to produce more such coins because pennies disappear from circulation as Canadians hoard these coins, or just cannot be bothered to use them."

While it may be true that it would save money (But what does that mean for rounding at stores? Rounding up? But what if you're Scottish?), I think it's just the preliminaries to getting rid of cash altogether and making it all electronic credit.

I say keep the penny. Hah!


Linkthanks for video: Catholic and Enjoying It!