Your lucky pennies might be accruing a bit more luck, as after 230 years, the one-cent coin has been discontinued. This is a uniquely uncontroversial decision from the Trump administration, that even the likes of late-night critic $85.5 million. So, is there any reason to miss the penny other than nostalgia? While losing the penny itself isn’t a problem, it’s a symptom of rising inflation and the decline in use of physical currency. Both of these trends will continue to be problems for Americans in years ahead. The demise of the penny can be attributed to two growing problems, the…

As we have just celebrated Veterans day, it seems worthwhile to examine America’s current complicated relationship with our armed forces. Just two years ago a Gallup poll found “confidence in the U.S. military” was at its lowest in two decades, hovering around 68% for Republicans, 62% for Democrats, and 55% for Independents. These numbers are only a few percentage points higher than during the Cold War, when Americans were concerned with Nuclear War and the threat of the Soviet Union. Why are Americans showing similar concern now? The Gallup columnist who examined this poll concluded the decline was due to…