Why Not Just Build An Additional U.S. Mint....... OR Two?

1. 60

   ShawnB2011posted 13 years ago

   Why Not Just Build An Additional U.S. Mint....... OR Two?
   
   The current U.S. Mint cannot make money fast enough to keep up with government spending so why not build an additional mint to help this little problem out? Seems like a simple and logical solution which is probably why it hasn't been done but this question was raised during a conversation I was having with coworkers so I thought I would ask you all as well.

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2. 72

   lburmasterposted 13 years ago

   What you suggest has actually happened in history before. The Germans were low on money after WW1. They decided to put their government Mint on overload, all day and night printing money. The result? They made so much money that it cost 1,000 marks to buy a piece of bread. They actually harmed their economy more so than the war did. There are pictures of children playing in the streets with hundreds of marks after the overload printing. One child even created a little play house!
   Printing more money harms the money's worth. Instead of a ten dollar bill being worth ten dollars when more than enough are printed, it is then dimmed to worth around nine dollars. With the more that are printed, the more that are needed to purchase something simple.

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3. 60

   ShawnB2011posted 13 years ago

   I see, well that makes sense. I say we still build one just to pay off some of our national debt then put away with it. . Don't have to pay ALL of our debt but at least enough to make a good dent in it so that history doesn't repeat itself. So far in the hole it might not be the same turn out as what happened in Germany. Thanks for the answer, didn't know Germany had tried that.

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4. 0

   Old Empresarioposted 13 years ago

   The US Mint does not print money. It strikes coins. The US Bureau of Engraving and Printing prints our currency. One facility is in Washington and the other is in Fort Worth. Circulated coins come from mints in Philadelphia and Denver.

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5. 60

   Lions Den Mediaposted 13 years ago

   The logical solution is to reduce spending, because increased spending and printing money leads to inflation. Simply read the Weimar Republic. The following link is a simplistic overview, but is interesting and establishes the exact reason why governments should NOT print money and why we don't need more mints -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weimar_Republic

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