Andrew Yang Policy on THE PENNY MAKES NO CENTS

[Sherman A1]

Nobody likes pennies. They aren’t valuable enough to buy anything. They sit at the bottom of your pocket or purse, taking up space until you begrudgingly throw them in a change jar. And whenever you’re in a rush, the person ahead of you in line pulls out some change and starts slowly counting out the pennies.

Seriously, though, there are many downsides to the penny:

They’re expensive. It costs more to make a penny than it’s worth, costing US taxpayers about $70m a year. And most of the zinc that goes into them comes from China, adding over $2m to the trade deficit.

Mining the zinc and copper needed to make pennies is bad for the environment.

Counting out pennies at businesses adds up to almost 50m hours each year.

https://www.yang2020.com/policies/no-pennies/

[BeyondGeography]

1. Knowing this country if you took the penny away

it would be seen as a big profit opportunity, there would be no pricing rules or controls on businesses and everything would be rounded up. It would also take away substantial freedom of movement to compete on price. The costs to consumers would dwarf those savings numbers. I like Yang but this isn’t one of his more thought-out ideas IMO.

[Sherman A1]

2. I appreciate your point of view on this topic

but I disagree and believe that we would easily adjust to the change saving considerable amounts of both money and environmental costs associated with the production of the penny.

[KitSileya]

3. With inflation, it makes no sense to have pennies - and one-dollar bills

The latter needs more of a phase-out because of vending machines, but should be converted to a coin only. The pennies should be gotten rid of completely, alongside the nickel. Instead of the nickel - a two-dollar coin. I doubt it will be done, though.

[Freddie]

4. Just returned from a trip to Canada

Where they are phasing out pennies. They will take pennies for payment but will not give pennies in change, everything is rounded to the nearest nickel and they no longer manufacture them. This being Canada, it’s a non-issue. Most Canadians wonder why we Yanks are such idiots about things (like health care).
We went to Toronto (from PA) to see Sting in his Broadway show. I’d never been to Canada before. Neat city (except the traffic!). The news on TV and radio was boring, all about traffic and weather and sports. Delightful. Loved the show too.

[pansypoo53219]

5. BRING BACK THE HALF-PENNY!

[Sherman A1]

6. I guess we could

“Mill” a few of them......

[rzemanfl]

8. God bless you. n/t

[mopinko]

7. this is my PET issue. just dont accept them.

usually i tell clerks- no pennies, please. they have no problem w that.
if they do give me pennies, i leave them on the counter.
they are a pox.

[mr_lebowski]

9. I do the same thing!

I hate pennies.

[democrank]

10. I grew up dirt poor and am grateful to have pennies.

Even 4 pennies or 2 pennies. There are so many things I just don’t understand.

[backtoblue]

14. Me too

Pennies add up...

[MineralMan]

11. The penny is 1 percent of the dollar.

Changing profit margins by 1 percent can mean the difference between success and failure for many businesses. Getting rid of the penny will require rounding up or down of sales, since pennies are involved in sales tax calculations.

I don't see the penny going away, although all pennies I receive in change are left at the merchant. I don't want them.

[WeekiWater]

12. Things like this is where he becomes caught up in insignificance.

The physical part is occurring organically and I see no point in eliminating it as a point of value.

[dalton99a]

13. For poor people, every penny counts

And there are a lot of poor people in the United States.

[Sherman A1]

17. Yes, There are and Yes, it does

However a few pennies are not going to make a difference. Andrew Yang's concept of a Universal Basic Income may very well do so and some of the money saved by minting pennies would help to pay for its implementation.

[MineralMan]

15. See a penny, pick it up, and all the day you'll have good luck.

That's an old saying. These days, the smallest coin I'll bother picking up is a quarter, and I don't carry quarters around, either. I've stopped carrying change in my pocket. It all goes into a box on my bedroom chest of drawers. When the box is full, I take it to a coin counter at the bank and pocket the money or deposit it in my checking account. When I do, it adds up to between $80 and $100. Now, that's worthwhile.

When i was a kid, I did pick up pennies. when I got enough of them, I put them in a roll wrapper and took them to the place I bought candy. 50 cents went a long way back then. These days, the pennies go into the box, if I take them in change. Normally, I just drop them in the container next to the cash register.

I buy 2 gyros and one order of fries every couple of weeks at a restaurant near my home. $14.24 is what that costs. There's a tip jar on the counter at the register. The change goes in there, along with another dollar. I don't want it. However, my small $1.76 tip means that the folks who work there recognize me, since nobody tips there. That means that the cooks start making my food when I walk in the door. They see me come in and know what I'm going to order. If I want something else, which is rare, I have to catch there eye and let them know, or I'll get my 2 gyros and an order of fries anyway. Often, if there is a line waiting to order, my order is ready when I reach the register. That's worth $1.74 to me.

At a number of places, they've stopped giving out pennies in change. They just round up the change to the next nickel. Too much trouble dealing with pennies, I guess. And nickels? What can you buy for a nickel? Or even a dime? A quarter is the smallest coin I find of value, really. There are quarters in one of the cup-holders in my car. I can count on there being at least $5 in there, most of the time. That has come in handy a few times. But smaller coins? I don't want them, really. I won't used them. They'll just go into the coin box and to the bank when it's full.

These days, most purchases get made by swiping my debit card. Well, shoving it into the slot, since it has a smart chip these days.

[MineralMan]

16. Coins aren't that interesting to people anymore. They've been devalued.

When I was in high school in the early 1960s, a friend of mine and I were hopeless practical jokers. One of our best, though involved a 50-cent piece. Those were actual silver coins at the time. About that time, the first epoxy glues came on the market. So, my friend and I planned a practical joke.

Late one Friday night, we went to the main street downtown area in our small town. After carefully mixing a bit of two-part epoxy glue, we glued a 50-cent piece to the concrete sidewalk outside a popular hangout downtown. The next day, we went to that diner/soda fountain place and sat there to watch.

Almost every one who passed by tried to pick up that half-dollar. More than once, too. Many kicked at it with the sole of their shoe, trying to knock it loose. Some got angry at not being able to grab half a buck. It was comedy central, and we hung around for a long time that day, watching the antics. Little groups of three or four people would gather, trying to figure out how to get that coin. More than one person took out a pocket knife to try to pry the coin of the sidewalk.

The next day, we went back, to find the coin gone and a chip in the concrete where it had been. Someone had brought a hammer and chisel and had chipped the concrete getting that half-dollar.

Sadly, this was before cell phone cameras, so we have no record of the comedy show our small-town residents put on for us.

[treestar]

18. It is done away with in Australia, Britain and the EU

Along with paper for a unit of 1. Australia had a one dollar coin and a 2 dollar coin. You could buy a cup of coffee with coins. 1 Euro is a coin. 1 Pound is a coin.

It is fun to see prices at $5 or 5 pounds or Euros rather than "$4.99." Those are annoying and you get a penny back.

So many practical and normal things we can't seem to do - including the metric system, health care, and so on.

[Politicub]

19. Interesting way for Yang to spend his time

While I don't disagree that the penny is an anachronism, I do question Yang taking the time for a no-pennies policy.

This is about the last thing on my list that needs addressing.

But, it could be more important to others. What do I know?

[Sherman A1]

20. A look at his website

Will reveal a host of policies some naturally more important than others but the totality indicating that he has thought about numerous issues facing the nation.

[aikoaiko]

21. I use cash so infrequently, its almost a non-issue.