Thursday, April 05, 2012

What to do with our money?

The Times has a discussion up on what do with our currency.  Most people seem to think some updating is in order (I agree).  For the record here are a few of my suggestions.
  • Drop the penny.  They cost more than they are worth to mint.
  • Leave Jefferson on the nickel.
  • Put Harry Truman on the dime.
  • Put Teddy Roosevelt on the quarter.
  • Put Ike on the half dollar. (Kennedy did not do anything worth being on our money.)
  • Stop printing dollar bills and start minting $1.00 coins with George Washington of course.
  • No more $2.00 bills
  • Leave Lincoln on the $5.00 bill.
  • Put FDR on the $10.00.
  • Put Ronald Reagan on the $20.00.
  • Put Martin Luther King on the $50.00. (My nod to political correctness.)
  • Move Alexander Hamilton to the $100.00 bill.
  • And if they ever go back to printing $1000.00 bills my vote goes to Jack Benny.
I don't support a rigid gold standard for reasons I have explained many times.  Though I do think everyone should own some gold as a hedge against out of control money printing.  If people really want to go back to some sort of "hard money" system I would suggest a silver standard.  There is simply not enough gold in the world for it to serve as an effective global currency for 7+ billion people.
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3 comments:

  1. Anonymous4/06/2012 10:49 AM

    I LOVE the idea of MLK on the $50. I don't think its PC at all.

    For all of his substantial personal/private flaws (and werent Moses, David etc all flawed in some way also?) MLK profoundly changed the face of our nation into one more closely resembling our most cherished ideals. And he did it with a truly courageous commitment to non-violent change.

    I don't think we can honor that acheivement enough. Just as we can't honor our Founding Fathers enough. Some acheivements deserve to be remembered always.

    ReplyDelete
  2. CJ4/06/2012 11:14 AM

    I would add: drop the linen notes and go to polymer. They cost more up front, but they are much more durable and are tougher to counterfeit.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Visibilium4/15/2012 11:05 AM

    There is simply not enough gold in the world for it to serve as an effective global currency for 7+ billion people.

    How much gold would be enough for worldwide monetary use?

    ReplyDelete

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