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Americans are so stubborn!

Harley Lovegrove
5 responses

The French gave up their Franc, The Germans their Deutschmark and even the British replaced their trusty pound notes for coins, so why can’t the Americans say goodbye to their antiquated Dollar bill?  Five times the US Fed have tried to replace the US Dollar bill with a simple round coin, very much like the ones used in Canada and in Europe for the past decades, and each time they have failed.  Currently the US mint has more than 1 billion USD coins in stock that are not going anywhere. 

I even heard one journalist say that the coins will be very likely melted down to be turned into souvenirs.  In these austere times, the savings are estimated to be around $184 million Dollars per year, over 30 years! (according to a GAO, US Government Accountability Office white paper)

Apparently every change resistant argument has been raised, including the cost of coin machine adaptation and the breaking of a trusted tradition.  But more worryingly even a two times ‘entertainer of the year’ (striptease artist) ‘Tiffany’  joined in the debate, obtaining  FOX TV coverage stating that coins would be too uncomfortable and dangerous if everyone placed them where they used to place the bills or threw them onto the stage!  Apparently now they even have a new line of attack: the legality of the coin itself.  It seems that they may contain base metals coming from illegal Cuban nickel mines!

When I hear all this, I wonder is this not change resistance for resistance sake or is there something much deeper going on?  And then I remind myself that the nearer any change is to our cultural identity, the more resistant we are to it.  And as one BBC financial commentator recently stated, he believed that the resistance was probably more linked to the philanthropic culture of Americans who prefer to say “keep the change” rather than walk around with uncomfortable coins jangling in their pockets or misshaping their Louis Vuitton purses.

So maybe my example is not one of Americans being stubborn but rather one of clear vision and logic and that their resistance to their beloved Dollar bill makes some kind of sense after all?

Have a good week,

Harley

Written by

Harley Lovegrove

Harley is a dynamic 'we can do this' kind of person with a successful track record of working for a wide variety of companies in all kinds of sectors. From very small family run businesses right through to giant multi-nationals. Over the last thirty five years Harley has built a reputation for inspiring those around him to rout out and tackle the core problems facing their organizations. Armed with a wide range of pragmatic tools that he has developed over the years, Harley is able to help his clients bring about long-term, sustainable solutions, while having fun at the same time. Harley is a motivational 'people person' who is nonetheless tough on efficiency and delivery. Apart from being well known for his highly entertaining and motivational speeches, Harley is also a blogger and author of four books; 'The Change Manager's Handbook', 'Transition', 'Inspirational Leadership’ and ‘Making a Difference’.

5 responses

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  1. B Bart -
    The American dollar bills are said to be among the easiest to counterfeit. Introducing new bills would also require a massive amount of money to be exchanged for the new currency, possibly rendering worthless huge amounts of black money. I'd be reluctant too ;-)
  2. S Sergio -
    If there are serious cost savings and the government can back this up convincingly enough, then they should "Just Do It" and see how the public responds. They could also try using a phased approach over a period of years, converting vending machines to accept the coins, gently persuading or "recommending" coins vs. bills. How about some incentives to go this route? But what about the design itself? How about a national art contest?! Excite people and they will embrace change if they see the benefits. Just my $.02 worth.
  3. P phw -
    1 dollar bills are very handy when it comes to tipping in many places of the world where it is expected (e.g. Latin America). I have often deplored that we have no 1 euro notes, since this makes tipping in euros almost impossible.
  4. L Richard L. -
    $184 million annual savings...
  5. L laurie -
    184 mio annual savings.... but from where / how - does the business case stand the test of time like few others have???? Often we head down the path of developing business cases with identified savings, but few often do we deliver on the savings.

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