Obama open to the elimination of penny

[Saiwania]

You've never heard of offices going "paperless"?

I haven't seen any evidence for the vast majority of every business and individual going paperless. If that was true, the paper industry would be out of business and people want receipts, flyers, sales papers, forms, etc.

[Minoriteeburg]

Anything Canada does is a good idea so yes.

Like the Hamster Dance?

[Great Nepal]

Yes, so cards are as much of currency as notes are.

Thing is, I'm all in favour of abolishing notes. To me, cards & coins would be ideal.

But coins are bulky and make noise. Cards (esp. contact less) only would be ideal.
They are also promise to pay up, £5 coin isn't worth £5 if I melt it and just has worth because central bank said so.

[Sibirsky]

Yes, so cards are as much of currency as notes are.

Thing is, I'm all in favour of abolishing notes. To me, cards & coins would be ideal.

Why coins? They are more expensive to produce than paper cash. And are worth less as legal tender. And weight more.

[Great Nepal]

They can use card which will be free.
Or wristband.
Or watch.

Ah, I see. If you're proposing the distribution of free equipment and services along with this plan, that is altogether more reasonable.

Yes, bank cards are already free so it would make sense to have contactlense cards be free too.

[Sibirsky]

You've never heard of offices going "paperless"?

I do paperless billing with all of my utilities.

Yep. The only way I receive a paper bill in the mail is if I forgot to pay something. But thankfully, that is relatively rare.

[The Emerald Dawn]

You've never heard of offices going "paperless"?

I haven't seen any evidence for the vast majority of every business and individual going paperless. If that was true, the paper industry would be out of business and people want receipts, flyers, sales papers, forms, etc.

....Except that's not true at all.

See, an "office" doesn't do commerce with monetary exchanges. They tend to deal with electronic transactions anymore, as it is safer for everyone if there isn't any money for people to steal from the store using a gun.

Now, stealing it electronically is different, but they protect against that.

Also, maybe you've never heard of Amazon, but it's possible, so I'd recommend googling it.

This wild invention called the "internet" has led to "E-Commerce" and caused most of the world's wealth to never actually touch a human hand.

Paper money is on the way out, not the way up.

[Natair]

Anything Canada does is a good idea so yes.

... They cursed us with one of the worst quote-unquote "musicians" of all time. I think not.

Thing is, I'm all in favour of abolishing notes. To me, cards & coins would be ideal.

But coins are bulky and make noise. Cards (esp. contact less) only would be ideal.
They are also promise to pay up, £5 coin isn't worth £5 if I melt it and just has worth because central bank said so.

Debit cards. Credit is too tempting to overspend with.

[Terraius]

The video says that this could save the US government 10 million dollars/year. Aren't 10 million a bit too little for such a change?

John Green's estimate. It's probably a few hundred million dollars every year, but it's not really important. It's a useless function.

My only concern is that we will spend more money phasing out the penny then we would actually make from phasing out the penny. Other than that Im ok with it other then the age old question of how to calculate trade. Round to the nearest 5th cents? Up or down? How much could this potentially effect the economy? One penny couldnt do much difference but billions of transactions having to be rounded might make a noticeable impact.

Also, woe to the 99 cent stores. They will all now have to change their names to '95 cent rounding to nearest percentile after tax' stores.

[Sibirsky]

Debit cards. Credit is too tempting to overspend with.

It is not our problem if you are irresponsible with your finances.

[AiliailiA]

I'll drink to that.

Actually the real problem will be the necessary inflation of thoughts.... as they will then cost a nickel.

No, they'll still cost a penny on average. It goes like this:

Patronizing Rich Fuck: A penny for your thoughts!
Starving Wretch: Da fuck? What's a penny?
Patronizing Rich Fuck: One cent. A fifth of a nickel.
Starving Wretch: For my thoughts? OK!
Patronizing Rich Fuck: What were your thoughts?
Starving Wretch: You think I'm stupid? Pay me first.
Patronizing Rich Fuck: Fair enough. Two rounds of scissors paper rock.
Starving Wretch: Why?
Patronizing Rich Fuck: If you win both, I give you a nickel.
Starving Wretch: And if I don't?
Patronizing Rich Fuck: Well you give me your thoughts and I give you nothing.
Starving Wretch: Hmm. That's better odds than one in five. It's one in four.
Patronizing Rich Fuck: True that. Now ... on three. One. Two. Three!
Starving Wretch: Rock beats scissors. Again?
Patronizing Rich Fuck: On three. One. Two Three.
Starving Wretch: Paper wraps rock. Hand it over.
Patronizing Rich Fuck: Here's your nickle. Now tell me your thoughts.
Starving Wretch: Candy was a damn fine girl and I should have married her when she asked.
Patronizing Rich Fuck: That's all?
Starving Wretch: Yep. Thanks for the nickel buddy.

[Minoriteeburg]

Debit cards. Credit is too tempting to overspend with.

It is not our problem if you are irresponsible with your finances.

^This.

I am, which is why I don't have a credit card.

[Great Nepal]

Debit cards. Credit is too tempting to overspend with.

Self control man. I have had 2 credit cards (total limit of £2000) for 2 years but I have never used it. I have them somewhere in cupboard instead.

[YellowApple]

It's silly to argue that poor people would be shut out from an all-electronic currency scheme when said poor people are already more than capable of participation.

Can you prove that all poor people have cell phones, much less cell phone or internet service? I didn't get a cell phone until a year ago and didn't have my own computer until around 3 years ago.

You ignored the rest of my statement, which specified that existing electronic payment methods - like debit cards - are already quite accessible to poor people via credit unions.

Likewise, I never said that *all* poor people have cell phones.

Since Google Wallet came out and introduced the ability to wave one's phone over a cash register to pay.

Think about it; why carry a wallet and a phone when your phone is capable of using NFC to transmit/authorize a payment and has a screen to display a photo ID and has the computational power and storage capacity to store and replicate a wide variety of barcode-based cards? The only things lacking on a phone are smartcard emulation and magnetic strips, and both of those can be conceivably obsolesced by NFC.

Also blacklight verification.

Digital currency would make blacklight verification more or less useless, since it's more difficult to counterfeit electronic money.

And even those in poverty tend to have cell phones, or at the very least some form of electronic payment, like a debit or credit card. Credit/debit cards are cheap to manufacture, and most credit unions - being non-profit - have very low charges associated with them, if any at all, making them very suitable for those in poverty. It's silly to argue that poor people would be shut out from an all-electronic currency scheme when said poor people are already more than capable of participation.

"Very low charges" are a different matter for people in different socioeconomic circumstances, and I really don't think all this is anywhere near as widespread as is convenient to pretend from a neoliberal position.

By "very low charges", I mean practically non-existent. The only cost I've had to contend with is a $1 minimum balance on my savings account. For reference, my account is a typical checking/savings combo account with the Golden 1 Credit Union. The savings part is even optional; I had the choice of turning it down and using checking exclusively if I didn't want to worry about a $1 minimum balance.

All that it costs to someone to set up such an account is his/her time. For me, it took 10 minutes, tops.

Nice try.

[AJD Germany]

Obama, what's next??? First ban guns, and now taking away pennies!?!?!?!??!??!!
KEEP YOUR HANDS OFF MY PENNIES!!!!!!!!!!!

[Sibirsky]

John Green's estimate. It's probably a few hundred million dollars every year, but it's not really important. It's a useless function.

My only concern is that we will spend more money phasing out the penny then we would actually make from phasing out the penny. Other than that Im ok with it other then the age old question of how to calculate trade. Round to the nearest 5th cents? Up or down? How much could this potentially effect the economy? One penny couldnt do much difference but billions of transactions having to be rounded might make a noticeable impact.

Also, woe to the 99 cent stores. They will all now have to change their names to '95 cent rounding to nearest percentile after tax' stores.

0-2 cents, rounded to 0 cents. 3-7 cents, rounded to 5 cents. 8-10 cents, rounded to 10 cents. Not rocket science.

You said it yourself. NEAREST 5 cents. You don't have a choice between up or down when rounded to the nearest.

Rounding will be close to even over that many transactions.

[Natair]

It is not our problem if you are irresponsible with your finances.

^This.

I am, which is why I don't have a credit card.

I'm not...

[Saiwania]

Paper money is on the way out, not the way up.

Says you, but I still use paper money. Explain why there is still newspapers, TV guides, notebook paper, receipts, letters, etc. and why that hasn't all gone away yet? I don't dispute that electronic forms of transaction is an option, but what I don't agree with is your postulation that paper will disappear entirely. Can you prove that everyone has access to internet service and electricity?

[Conscentia]

Thing is, I'm all in favour of abolishing notes. To me, cards & coins would be ideal.

But coins are bulky and make noise. Cards (esp. contact less) only would be ideal.
They are also promise to pay up, £5 coin isn't worth £5 if I melt it and just has worth because central bank said so.

I like coins.

[Conscentia]

Obama, what's next??? First ban guns, and now taking away pennies!?!?!?!??!??!!
KEEP YOUR HANDS OFF MY PENNIES!!!!!!!!!!!

Uh, guns are still legal.

[Dyakovo]

Note mine above.

It is not irrational fear, I genuinely hate electronic currency and prefer a physical form of it.

You might be right about it not being a fear... You aren't about denying it being irrational.

[The Emerald Dawn]

Paper money is on the way out, not the way up.

Says you, but I still use paper money. Explain why there is still newspapers, TV guides, notebook paper, receipts, letters, etc. and why that hasn't all gone away yet? I don't dispute that electronic forms of transaction is an option, but what I don't agree with is your postulation that paper will disappear entirely. Can you prove that everyone has access to internet service and electricity?

Newspaper sales are declining: http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/greenslade/2013/jan/16/smithsgroup-newspapers

TV Guides sales drop: http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/articles/6330921/tv-listings-sales-drop-after-prices-increase

Notebook paper? What the fuck are you talking about? That's a commodity, not a service.

Receipts are the record of a transaction, and most electronic sales go to *drum roll* your E-Mail. You can also request a receipt be e-mailed to you from an increasing number of stores.

Letters? Really? You haven't read the newspapers you claim to defend then. They cut off Saturday service because the CFO of USPS said, and I quote, "E-Mail is so convenient."

[Sibirsky]

But coins are bulky and make noise. Cards (esp. contact less) only would be ideal.
They are also promise to pay up, £5 coin isn't worth £5 if I melt it and just has worth because central bank said so.

I like coins.

For legal tender? I hate them. They waste time.

I like collecting the ones out of circulation.

[Great Nepal]

But coins are bulky and make noise. Cards (esp. contact less) only would be ideal.
They are also promise to pay up, £5 coin isn't worth £5 if I melt it and just has worth because central bank said so.

I like coins.

I dont, mostly because of noise they make in pocket. If given choice between coin and note, I opt for note.

[Natair]

I like coins.

For legal tender? I hate them. They waste time.

I like collecting the ones out of circulation.

*Looks at coins*
Don't worry. Some day I'll be able to trade you in for real money.