The Senate is looking into passing new legislation that would replace the Dollar Bill with a coin Dollar.
“By moving from the costly dollar bill to the dollar coin, we can save real money and show the American taxpayer that we are serious about cutting spending in Washington,” McCain said.
A pro might be that yes the dollar bill does wear out much faster than a coin and has to be replaced more frequently than a coin, but the con is also - who wants to carry around a bunch of heavy change?
My thoughts on the matter have a slightly different angle to them. I remember the half penny. I think many watched Little House on the Prairie and saw Laura Ingles buy a bag of candy for a penny. Well those days are long gone and so is the half penny. If we make the Dollar into a coin, will that be the first step to the entry level of our money changing? Will the base line be the dollar rather than 1/100 of a dollar?
Will this be the first step toward doing away with physical money all together and relying on a plastic digital monetary system? Like debit cards or Personal Identity with all of your information on it? I remember when the idea of using a phone that can allow you to have a video chat seemed impossible and so futuristic, but in my lifetime it has happened and is very commonplace. I remember when I hated people with cell phones not understanding why people couldn't just wait till they got home to call someone.
I remember a time when money was backed with real gold too ... but not anymore.
Am I reading too much into this? Am I paranoid?
What kind of economic system will we be entering into if the Dollar bill turns into a mandatory Dollar coin?