Sunday, March 6, 2011

GAO Study: "Replacing the $1 Note with a $1 Coin"

"According to GAO's analysis, replacing the $1 note with a $1 coin could save the government approximately $5.5 billion over 30 years."

Very cool, a $1 coin would have much more intrinsic value than a note. One more thing to hoard someday.

8 comments:

Taylor Conant said...

Funny, you'd think a US citizen would be a "stakeholder" the GAO would want to consult on something like this. Instead, it concerned itself solely with what benefits the government. Who is working for whom?

CP said...

The GAO doesn't seem to consult me about any issues it which it might seem that I have a "stake".

Stagflationary Mark said...

Think how much money the government could save if they were magic coins.

Picture 1 coin in 10 magically vanishing after a year.

Wouldn't that be awesome! Who doesn't love magic tricks? ;)

CP said...

Poor Mark, you are late to the party.

The Federal Reserve has already thought of that and they would do "expiring money" if they could - negative real interest rates!

You need to find a better way of punishing savers if you want to make the grade!

CP said...

Oops, just saw that your link was to the Mankiw "idea".

But, there must be other ways to punish savers!

Taylor Conant said...

Contrary to popular argument, I am pretty sure plain old inflation still does the trick.

Or am I supposed to believe that when we're up against the zero-bound, the printing of money actually DOES result in the creation of new, real wealth all by itself?

Joe Nelson said...

CP,

If there's a way to further punish savers then I'm sure the crack team of experts at 33 Liberty will find it. In fact, I'm sure they're working day and night. Perpetual prosperity through printer ink here we come.

anony mouse said...

CP,

Hoard someday? Why wait? That's exactly what happened with the Sacagawea dollar they introduced - they never really got into circulation because every kept them. I think we're one of the few countries that doesn't have a dollar coin in circulation.

This actually would probably save money - especially if they made it out of something other than Copper. Last I remember it costs 6 cents to print a dollar bill, and they get damaged and taken out of circulation pretty quickly. Coins would last a lot longer.