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Saving money on making money
President Obama's budget says that it costs 2.4 cents to make a penny because copper and assorted raw materials are so expensive now. He wants the Treasury Department to use cheaper materials in order to save money.
This final note today, which comes to us from page 165 of the president's budget the White House released today.
You know that saying "A penny saved is a penny earned"? How 'bout this: A penny made more cheaply can save the government a whole boatload of money.
The president wants Congress to let the Treasury Department use cheaper -- the actual phrase is "more cost-effective" -- materials to mint our coins. It costs, the budget says, 2.4 cents to make a penny because copper and assorted raw materials are so expensive now; 11.2 cents to make a nickel.
Total potential savings? $50 million.
I've got an even better idea, how about if they stop debasing the value of our currency so the value of the metal isn't more than the purchasing power of the coins? This think is a symbolic artififact of the problem of the continuous inflation of our money since the creation of the federal reserve. Since that faitful day, a dollar has lost approxiamtely 95% of is purchasing power. To illustrate the point, back when dimes were made out of silver, you could buy a gallon of gas for 10 cents, today, that same silver dime is worth enough money to buy a gallon of gas.
