Abolishing the Dollar Makes Sense

12-2-2012 • Free Press Publications

Every year or two a proposal comes forth that would abolish the $1 bill and “replace it” with a dollar coin. Such a switch would save estimated $4.4 billion over 30 years or roughly $147 million per year (a drop in the bucket when compared to the federal budget of $3.7 trillion). The latest projection from the Government Accountability Office come as Congress begins exploring new ways for the government to save money by changing the money itself. Why not support a proposal that would benefit everyone? I believe the proposals to replace the $1 bill with a $1 coin are bad, not because they would impose on the people a coin they don’t want to use, but rather because it continues to invoke legal tender laws and government control of the currency.