International Man: President Trump has ordered the Treasury to stop minting pennies after 232 years, citing the fact that each one costs more than two cents to produce—calling it a waste of taxpayer money.

What's your take on this move?

Doug Casey: It may seem odd that we're talking about something as trivial as the disappearance of the penny while we may be staring World War 3 in the face any day now. We can visit that next week since the situation is so fluid.

But let's turn our attention from a potentially traumatic war to a gradually degrading coinage, starting with a fun fact. People have forgotten that the US used to have a half-penny coin, which circulated from 1793 until 1857; it was pure copper and only slightly smaller than our current quarter. The debasement of coinage is a long-standing trend in the United States.