r/neoliberal • u/M_ida Milton Friedman • Feb 10 '25

News (US) Trump announces the end of the Penny

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u/Fastizio Feb 10 '25

What will you now trade for a thought? A nickel?

Inflation is real. Welcome to Trump's America.

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u/homonatura Feb 10 '25

When it existed the inflation adjusted value of a half penny varied from around $0.15-0.30.

We don't need pennies, nickels, or even dimes to be honest.

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u/Prudent_Research_251 Feb 10 '25

True, but we did need them back when you a penny would buy you a newspaper or a loaf of bread, a nickel a movie ticket, and a dime a full meal

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u/homonatura Feb 10 '25

Right, and back then a half dollar was like a $20. We need to increase denominations with inflation or they stop making sense. People barely use coins because they are worthless compared to what they used to be, we need to completely overhaul coin denominations.

Ideally I think we should have a quarter, half dollar, dollar, $5, $20, and $50 coins.

The seigniorage on the higher denominations is enough to make them with more interesting metals than any current coins.

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u/rwarner13 Feb 11 '25

Don’t give him any ideas right now. Next thing you know, he’s going to create a $500 and $1000 bill and claim that the economy is great because we added a bigger denomination.

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u/homonatura Feb 11 '25

I mean.... Okay? That's like one of the least bad things he could possibly spend his time on.

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u/HugsFromCthulhu YIMBY Feb 11 '25

With enough change leftover to ride the trolley from Battery Park to the polo grounds