After the Penny, Inflation Is Now Targeting the Dollar Bill
Congress axed the penny, but the real villain — inflation — is already eroding the dollar's purchasing power.
The penny is officially dead, and Congress is patting itself on the back. But here's the trade you should actually be making: the move to scrap the cent wasn't a legislative win — it was an admission that inflation has quietly been winning for years. When a coin costs more to mint than it's worth, that's not a manufacturing problem. That's a currency problem.
Now the dollar bill is in the crosshairs. Inflation doesn't stop at one denomination. It works its way up the ladder, and the purchasing power you think you have today is not the purchasing power you'll have tomorrow. Every dollar sitting idle in a low-yield account is a dollar quietly shrinking. That's not opinion — that's math.
Read more Economists Warn the Fed Could Be Making a Big Rate Mistake →
MarketWatch points out that Congress addressed the symptom, not the disease. Killing the penny is cosmetic surgery on a patient with a systemic condition. The dollar faces the same long-term pressure that made the penny obsolete — and unlike the penny, the dollar touches every single transaction in your life. Rent, groceries, gas — all of it is priced in dollars that buy less each year.
For retail traders and everyday investors, the takeaway is straightforward: cash is a position, and right now it's a losing one if you're not earning a real return above inflation. Equities, commodities, TIPS, real assets — these are the instruments designed to fight back. Sitting on the sideline isn't neutral. It's a slow bleed.
Congress can celebrate the penny's retirement all it wants. You should be asking what's next on inflation's hit list — and positioning accordingly. Continue reading at MarketWatch.com
