About time to ban the Penny

About time to ban the Penny‌ It has been quite some time now that President Obama has been planning to scrape off the penny. Besides the cooperative play between the two parties, the congress still needs to be convinced for the idea. However, it might be the right time now. According to Quartz, it takes around 1.6 cents to make a one-cent coin. This is primarily due to the recent sharp rise in the price of zinc.

The Wall Street Daily notes that with the growing demand of zinc in the market, its price is going to continue to rise in the near future. Its demand is increasing mostly due to the rise in zinc demand in the Chinese market due to the growing building and automotive industries where it is utilized in the production of steel. At the same time many major zinc mines are shutting down because of environmental concerns in the case of china and because of depletion in the case of the zinc mines in Australia.

As far as the impact on nature is concerned, the mixing of metal always has a negative effect on the environment. In China, the process has particularly led to an increase in the cadmium, zinc and lead levels in the water and soil. This has contributed in an increase in the levels of lead in children’s blood streams.

President Obama believes that since producing a penny now costs more than it is worth and since people have clusters and collections of pennies piling up, it is about time that they stopped the production. Canada had already banned the penny and doing that, they assumed savings of around $20 million in the economy. Now, with more payments and transfers shifting to electronic systems, physical cash and coins are starting to go obsolete.

Ending the production of the penny is finally something that all environmentalists and fiscal conservatives agree with. In case the penny is banned for good, there will be a rounding up of prices. This is the main concern that troubles majority Americans, which is why 77 percent of them do not want the penny banned. These Americans think that if the official rounding law is implemented, the retailers around the country will raise their prices.

If the rounding law comes to act, the retailers might even have to lower the prices in many places. But their concern stands in place. Hence, it is not only the congress, but President Barack Obama also needs to convince a majority population to agree with the change.

Related Article: http://www.researchomatic.com/New-Research/William-Safire-Abolish-the-Penny-385566.html