HOUSE BILL: The Currency of Atlasia Act (Passed - Sent to VP/PPT)

[Leinad]

I'll remind everyone of a related bill by Pingvin back shortly after the reset:

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[Leinad]

1. The Abolition of the Penny would mean that prices would be rounded to the nickel (or the dime if we abolish the nickel also, an even worse idea). This would mean that prices would raise by a cent or two to account for that (likely no rounding down for merchants or vendors), and as the current majority of prices end with 9's and economists agree that businesses are guided by a desire to maximize profits. There is no obvious incentive for businesses to set prices in a way that will lead to rounding down, so we'll see a rise in prices and the creation of a "rounding tax". Which is huge over a elongated period of time, and drastically hurts the poorer individuals, who should be helped, not hurt by this government.

You made a lot of other points and some of them are certainly good (I'm kind of undecided on this as of now--yes, a person to sway! ) but I'm curious: do we really know they would round up?

I see a lot of prices ending in 5s already (apparently almost half as common as ending in 9s if this chart is to be believed), and I feel like the whole idea of "psychological pricing" would continue--in that they wouldn't round up, and would most of the time round down. I mean, if >20% of the prices ending in 9s are rounded down and the rest rounded up, the average shopper would be saving some amount of money, right?

[Leinad]

you may see $3.95 or $4.00. However, as we all know, businesses are more likely to charge $4.00 to get some of that extra guap.

But then why isn't it $4.00 already? I asked this before but Nev apparently decided he'd rather answer other questions instead. I think that for the same reason prices are $3.99 instead of $4.00, some businesses would continue the act of "psychological pricing" and make it $3.95. Maybe very few businesses would do that, I'm not really sure, and I can see an argument either way. I do understand the point Nev was trying to make, that (if we start off with the assumption all or almost all $X.99 prices would round up instead of down) that would suck for the consumer, especially poorer consumers. So, I don't want that. If someone could give some insight on where they think the rounding would go, that'd be peachy.

[Leinad]

Why does it have to be a who? It might be a better idea to have natural features like the Appalachian mountains, or man-made structures like the Statue of Liberty, or perhaps American inventions or achievements like the Moon landing--i.e. instead of a person, a place or a thing.

If we do go with people, it should probably be RL ones, as Atlasians would be awkward given that several contenders are still active in the game, and there would be inconsistencies and points of contention over what pictures we use for them. Should we go the real life people route, some nominees could include (only listing dead people, partially to keep me from just hackishly naming a bunch of people I like): MLK, Thomas Paine, Susan B. Anthony, Mark Twain, H.D. Thoreau, Muhammad Ali, Jackie Robinson, Jimi Hendrix, Charlie Chaplin--or if those suggestions sound too fun and interesting, go the boring route and pick a bunch of old Presidents.