May 21, 2014
How much would it cost us to eliminate the penny?
Kai Ryssdal thinks it makes cents to say goodbye.
I’ll go on the record as saying I personally am in favor of getting rid of the penny. I’ve got a jarful in my office just collecting dust.
And really over the course of a year how much difference would rounding up or down to the nearest nickel really make, anyway?
As it happens, we have an answer to that question:
Canada began phasing out its penny at the beginning of last year and a Quebec man kept track of how much he was gaining or losing over a year. Grand total? He was 89 cents ahead after 365 cash transactions.
So there you go: I say get rid of it.


