Should the penny (and other low-value money) be abolished?
Since 2010 John has argued that the US should stop making pennies, because they cost more than they are worth and do little to help people buy and sell things. In 2011 he extended the case to the one-dollar bill and proposed $1 and $2 coins in its place. By 2015 he called the penny a very small outrage next to bigger fixes, yet in 2022 he said he still hates it.
Axis: abolish ... keep
Positions by date: 13 records in 11 videos. The position was refined (2011, 2026), never reversed, in these records.
John
| date | how | position | video |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010-09-06 | first on record | John argues the US should abolish the penny (and the nickel), keeping only dimes, fifty-cent pieces and dollar coins: pennies cost more than they are worth and fail to facilitate commerce. | I HATE PENNIES!!!! (Also Nickels.) 00:01:34 |
| 2010-11-15 | restate | John repeats, as he has argued before, that pennies are stupid, cost hundreds of millions a year and should be abolished, though that would not fix the deficit. | Hey! You! Fix the Budget! 00:01:57 |
| 2011-07-08 | restate | John restates his case against the penny: it costs more than a cent to make, doesn't work as money, and the Netherlands dropped it with no harm. | Kill the Dollar Bill! 00:00:47 |
| 2011-07-08 | refine | John extends his case to the one-dollar bill: replace it with existing $1 coins and new $2 coins, saving money and boosting spending via the denomination effect. | Kill the Dollar Bill! 00:02:01 |
| 2011-07-22 | restate | John says status quo bias is the only reason pennies remain; a coin worth a hundredth of a dollar is as insane as one worth a thousandth. | Your Yard Is EVIL 00:02:05 |
| 2013-02-15 | restate | In the interview clip John tells Obama almost all economists agree the US should stop minting pennies and asks why it hasn't been done. | Baby, Harlem, Obama, Dance Crazes, Big Week 00:01:53 |
| 2015-11-24 | restate | John still calls minting pennies that cost two cents and buy nothing an obvious outrage, but now an exceedingly small one compared with bigger fixes. → refers to I HATE PENNIES!!!! (Also Nickels.) | Crime and Outrage 00:01:29 |
| 2017-11-09 | restate | John calls stopping rational: money exists to facilitate the exchange of goods and services, which five-cent coins don't do very effectively. | The New Zealand Five Cent Coin 00:00:37 |
| 2019-12-03 | restate | John notes the US keeps minting one-cent coins though they cost more than a cent to make and don't facilitate the exchange of goods and services, the point of currency. | We Are Cats Now, I Guess? 00:01:31 |
| 2022-02-01 | restate | John still very much hates the US penny, as in his video eleven years ago: money exists to store value and facilitate exchange, and pennies do neither. → refers to I HATE PENNIES!!!! (Also Nickels.) | This Video Is Actually Three Videos 00:01:07 |
| 2022-10-25 | restate | His most notable example is his long crusade against the US penny: he gets engagement from the idea that pennies are minted because Congress cares mostly about divisive, re-election issues. | Instantly Debateable 00:01:56 |
| 2026-02-13 | restate | John says no more pennies can be had because the US stopped minting them; money exists to facilitate exchange, which pennies have not done since the 1970s, so it came 50 years late. | Project for Awesome 2026 Kickoff! 00:32:38 |
| 2026-02-13 | refine | Asked about pressed nickels, John muses that cash could be rounded to the dollar: quarters still somewhat facilitate exchange, but he is not sure dimes do. | Project for Awesome 2026 Kickoff! 02:35:23 |
Background
| date | how | position | video |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2012-04-03 | background | John contrasts Canada dropping its penny with the US keeping pennies that cost 2.1 cents to make, and declares he hates pennies. (playful) | Idiotic Governance: How Our Political Discourse Hurts Our Economy 00:00:10 |
| 2013-02-12 | background | John: Canada got rid of its one-cent coin and nothing bad happened; how do we still live in a world with pennies? (playful) | Talking to the President 00:01:39 |
| 2013-02-19 | background | John hails a sitting President acknowledging that pennies are a terrible idea and a metaphor for what's wrong with government. (playful) | Doing Things, On the Importance of 00:00:14 |
| 2013-03-12 | background | John jokes the sequester is even more embarrassing than the US continuing to mint pennies. (playful) | Understand the Sequester (Spoiler: It's Bananas.) 00:05:41 |
| 2015-03-03 | background | Finding a box of pennies, John declares that pennies shouldn't even exist. (playful) | What's in the Box in the Box in the Box? 00:01:38 |
| 2017-09-12 | background | Asked if he is still mad that pennies exist, John says not mad so much as disappointed. (playful) | How Will the World End? Why Even Get Out of Bed? It's Question Tuesday. 00:01:32 |
| 2019-08-09 | background | Hank holds up a piece of useless metal (unnamed, apparently a penny) that he says his government is too busy being terrible to get rid of. (playful) | Decluttering the Somewhat Embarrassing Nightstand of a 39 Year-Old Best-Selling Author 00:02:43 |
| 2025-11-14 | background | Hank signs off with 'death to pennies'. (playful) | The End of The Penny (and of Congress??) 00:06:59 |
| 2026-02-15 | background | Of 1,200 pressed-penny perks designed by Rachel Calderon Navarro only 258 are left; John says taking pennies out of circulation is good news for our species, though probably not important news. (playful, hedged) | Project for Awesome 2026 part 5! 02:58:03 |