The Federal Reserve Killed the Penny. Is MAGA Next?

By Ron Paul

President Trump recently issued an executive order instructing the US Mint to stop producing pennies. The reason for this is it costs nearly four cents to produce one penny. That’s right: the US government can’t even make pennies without losing money! President Trump may have signed the death certificate, but the Federal Reserve is the penny’s true killer. Since the Fed’s creation, the US dollar has lost over 97 percent of its value!

President Trump’s hopes for a successful presidency may be the Fed’s next victim. According to the government’s data, which is manipulated to understate price inflation, consumer prices rose by 0.5 percent in January, the biggest monthly increase since August of 2023. The public’s continued anger over price inflation —and the government’s response — is reflected in recent polling data. According to a February 19th Reuters-Ipsos poll, 53 percent of Americans think the economy is on the wrong track, while a mid-February Gallup poll found that 54 percent of Americans disapprove of President Trump’s handling of the economy. A reason for public dissatisfaction with President Trump’s economic performance is that, according to an early February survey by CBS, 66 percent of Americans think the Trump administration is not focused enough on lowering prices. Unfortunately, President Trump’s tariff policies will cause the prices of many consumer goods to increase.

President Trump can turn price inflation from a losing issue to a winning issue by following the lead of Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) head Elon Musk (and 2016 Presidential candidate Donald Trump) and push for an audit of the Federal Reserve. Mr. Musk has not only endorsed auditing the Fed — he has suggested I should be in charge of the audit.

Federal law prohibits the Government Accountability Office (GAO) from auditing the Federal Reserve’s conduct of monetary policy. This means the American public and Congress are kept in the dark regarding monetary policy that impacts every American’s economic well being. The Dodd-Frank Act, which passed in response to the 2008 market meltdown, authorized a limited audit of the Fed’s response to the meltdown. The audit found that between 2007 and 2010 the Fed committed over 16 trillion dollars to foreign central banks and private companies. Imagine what a full audit would uncover — and the reaction when the American people finally learn the truth about the central bank. Allowing a full audit of the Federal Reserve requires passage of the Audit the Fed bill.

President Trump should call on the House and Senate to pass the Audit the Fed bill so he can sign it into law. President Trump and Congress should also remove a major disincentive to the use of alternate currencies by adding to the tax bill Congress will consider later this year a provision exempting precious metals and cryptocurrencies from capital gains taxes. In addition, the Fed should be stopped from monetizing federal debt via legislation forbidding it from purchasing Treasury bonds.

Inflation is not caused by labor unions, illegal immigrants, or greedy businesses. It is the inevitable result of a fiat money system managed by a secretive central bank. By passing the Audit the Fed bill this year, President Trump and Congress can take the first step toward restoring a free-market money system.