Abstract:
I argue that the U.S. Mint should stop producing pennies. The Mint is losing money on penny production and new evidence from a multi-state convenience store chain shows that eliminating the penny will not impose a “rounding tax” on consumers. Eliminating the penny will have a negligible impact on inflation and on convenience store costs and profits, but it will save time for customers and clerks, which may be worth about $730 million per year.
Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from Dr. Mary H. Lesser, Department of Economics, Iona College, New Rochelle, NY 10801-1890 http://www.iona.edu/eea/publications/subandmem.htm