Why do we have pennies? (and more money questions)
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Bridget, Ryan, we're a minute to showtime. Are you ready? Yeah, of course we are. Yeah, we're like total professionals. This is the second time we've done a live show for the radio. Of course, last time we had a little bit

of time to prepare. This time we're filling in for the live broadcast of Marketplace because everyone else got sick off lukewarm tuna fish sandwiches and we've only had like 20 minutes to get ready. We don't even have a script. I'll be working entirely off instinct, Bridget. Remember to yes and.

Yes, and what money question will that answer? No, it's like an improv thing. Like if I say, here today we're on Mars, you could say, yes, and look, there's an alien. Why would I say that? That's an untrue statement. Because we're agreeing on the reality of the... Forget it. Okay. Besides, how many people actually listen to Marketplace? A couple dozen? Yes, and a million more. Okay.

Is that all? Ten seconds. Oh, wait, I need to turn on the soundboard. Ow! Oh, no, I dropped the microphone again. I think I'm going to barf.

Hey everyone, welcome to Million Bazillion. I'm Bridget. And I'm Brian. And we help dollars make more sense. You maybe thought you'd be tuning in to Marketplace Today, the nation's most listened to show about business and the economy. But nope, you've got us. Yep, we answer the questions you have about money. And today we're taking your phone calls live along with our trusty soundboard, which you're not going to hear on those other money shows. All right, here comes some hot news sound effects for you.

And here's our first caller. Yes, hi. This is Peter in Kansas City. Can you explain graduated tax income brackets and, you know, how that differs from a progressive tax rate and its implications for our tax system? Oh, sorry, folks. I guess I should have said earlier, we're actually here to answer the questions that kids have about money. They are way more fun than that question. Next caller, please.

I'm Cruz. And I'm Demi. And we live in Atlanta, Georgia. Cruz and Demi? What is this, the cast of A Few Good Men? Hi Cruz and Demi, are you two siblings? Yes, we are siblings. This is Cruz and I'm older. And this is Demi and I'm the youngest.

Look at this million bazillion bringing the family together. Okay, you two, what is your question for us? What is the difference between the credit? I'm saying it. What is the difference between a credit card and a debit card?

Oh, wow. Ryan, this takes me back to our very first episode of Million Bazillion Together. Do you remember it? Oh, I sure do, Bridget. We answered a question about credit cards, so I think we're totally ready to answer this question. Take it away. Okay, Cruz and Demi, here goes. This question shows that you are paying really close attention because of

credit card and a debit card look the same. They're both these little rectangles of plastic with a chip in them. But a debit card only lets you spend your money that's in your checking account. It's maybe like a little more convenient than having to go and get cash, but it's basically like spending cash.

With a debit card, you can only spend the money that you actually have at that moment. In fact, your purchase won't even go through if you try to spend more money than what's in your bank account. And credit cards, on the other hand, are a tool that let you buy something with money you've borrowed.

Back in the 80s, people would take them out and say, let's charge this to plastic. And people would go, oh, that guy's cool. He's got a credit card. Today, almost everyone has a credit card. And you need to be thoughtful about when you use a credit card. If you don't pay back the money you've borrowed by a certain time, you can end up having to pay a lot of extra money in late fees and interest. And you could damage your credit, which can make it harder for you to buy big things later on.

You know, we'll put a link to that episode in our show page notes for this episode. That's a good idea. Awesome. Well, Demian Cruz, did we answer your question? Yay! Thanks for calling. All right. Bye. We totally got this live radio thing, Ryan. It's like riding a bike. Yes. So far, only minor cuts and bruises. No, no. You always remember how to do it. Let's answer more great questions, okay? Right after this.

Whoa, Ryan, get a hold of the soundboard, okay? We're trying to hear asking random kids not-so-random questions. I don't know what happened. It's like the soundboard has a mind of its own. Okay, wait. Here, let me try that again. And now it's time for asking random kids not-so-random questions. Today's question is, who should be in charge of all of our money? I think my four-year-old brother, Clark, should be in charge of all of our money.

I think it should be the president because they already have a lot more responsibilities. I think this would fit for them. Me. It should probably be the government or the United States Mint. I think the place that you live in, whoever's the president, they should be in charge of the money.

That was Elena in Texas, Arjun in Ohio, Ada in Georgia, Sage in New Hampshire, and Cecilia in Colorado. This has been asking random kids not so random questions.

Welcome back to Million Bazillion. Today we're toasting a jive broadcast. I mean, a hive podcast. I mean, today we're hosting this live broadcast of Marketplace, but with a special Million Bazillion twist because we're answering your questions about money. And one minor soundboard issue aside, I'm having a great time. My panic-induced British accent hasn't popped up once. Yeah, this has been great. Oh.

Okay, next caller. You're on the line. My name is William, and I'm from Laguna Beach. Hi, William. Love Laguna Beach. Heisler Park, the pageant of the masters. Go artists! That's the real Orange County to me. What's your question? My question is, why do we have pennies? Ooh, that's a good one. Ryan, I need you to stall for a few minutes while we call up an expert to help us answer this one. Oh, sure. Okay. I'll play some great coin noises while we wait.

What in the Dan Rather? Those aren't coins. Hold on. Okay, Bridget, are you ready? I think I finally got the soundboard under control. Oh, yeah. I got this.

I'm calling Janet Nguyen, reporter at Marketplace. She's written about pennies, and I happen to know she'd never touch an office-provided tuna fish sandwich. Hello? Janet here. Hey, Janet. It's Ryan and Bridget. So you're not a fan of tuna, huh? That's correct, Ryan. Or at least not when it's at room temp. Okay, Janet. Like I was just frantically texting you, we've got William on the line, and he wants to know why we have pennies. What have you found in your reporting?

So the US started minting and printing its own currency back in the late 1700s, around the time it became an independent country. People were paid less and things cost less back then, so you needed a lot of smaller coins and bills, as opposed to really large bills. For example, if you were a well-paid carpenter in Massachusetts in 1793, the year the penny was created, you might make 90 cents a day, and that was considered a good living.

Oh, okay. Interesting. So people were probably using pennies a lot and they were probably pretty useful because you might be able to buy a lot of stuff with one. Exactly. So around that time, a loaf of bread might cost 12 cents. So you're going to need those pennies to help pay for that. Maybe even more than you need a coin or a bill that's worth more.

Well, that's pretty cool. But do people ever really even use pennies today? Nothing costs one cent or two cents or even 12 cents anymore. I'm just saying. It's funny you bring that up because in my reporting, I actually found that some people think we should get rid of the penny, but it would take an act of Congress to do that. And getting rid of the penny isn't exactly one of their top priorities.

Yeah. And we all know that Congress is the opposite of progress. Sorry, that's a dumb old joke. It doesn't matter. You know, let's just cut that out and we'll end on your answer. I think that's cleaner if we just stop right at your answer. That's good. Well, we can't because, again, we're live. But Janet, thank you so much for helping us with this one. We really appreciate it. My pleasure. Good luck with the rest of the show.

Ryan, Ryan, enough with the sound effects. It's not me, Bridget. I swear. You are sitting right there at the soundboard. I can see you. But I'm not pressing the buttons. See, I didn't touch anything that time. Okay, well, we're going to take a little break and then we'll be right back with more answers to your questions. I mean, the questions your kids have. Adults who listen to Marketplace, this is not your day. Do not call us. Back after this.

Okay, that was bumpy at the end there. Was Janet annoyed? I hope not. No, I'm texting with her now. She's good. Okay. Tell her I'm sorry. Actually, don't tell her that. I get self-conscious around these Marketplace reporters. Why are you playing that music? I'm not playing it. It just came on by itself. No, not that one. That's Marketplace music. I swear I hit the button to play our music, Bridgette.

This is so weird. Welcome back to Million Bazillion, everyone. Today we're answering your questions live. Next caller. Hi, I'm Nilou and I'm nine years old. Welcome to the show, Nilou. My family drives across the Canadian and U.S. border a lot and we pass a duty-free zone. My question is, what does duty-free mean and why does it exist? Thank you.

Ah, yes. Duty-free. Though it sounds like a way to describe an unused diaper, duty-free is actually a whole different thing that has to do with taxes and borders. I know. Just who to call. I'm already dialing her. You have a tax expert on speed dial? Well, yeah. I'm calling Renu Zaretsky with the Urban Brookings Tax Policy Center. And even better, she's based in one of the places with a very prominent U.S.-Canada border.

Hey, how are you doing? Hey, Renu. I'm doing great. Ryan and I are just calling with another question from a listener. Let's play that again from Nilou. My question is, what does duty-free mean and why does it exist? So, Renu, can you help us answer this one? Let's start with, what is a duty-free store?

So duty-free shots are going to be found in places where people are kind of in the middle of two places, in the middle of two countries. That could be at a border, like between the United States and Canada, which is just about 20 minutes from my house, or it could be at an airport where people can fly internationally.

A duty-free shop is a place where you have no duty or requirement to pay taxes on the products that are sold in that store. Okay, sounds amazing. So you don't have to pay taxes on anything? All stores should be like that. Why would these magical stores exist in the first place? Duty-free shops exist so that people don't have to pay taxes too many times on the products that they buy.

So if you're traveling internationally, you might have something that you bought in that country and you would have to declare it. You have to wait in line in customs and you might end up owing tax on them. And those are the kinds of products that you might have been able to buy tax-free at a duty-free shop. Okay, so it's like the country you're leaving, it's like the last chance that they have to sell you something. That's exactly right. They want to give consumers a chance to purchase.

buy products in their country and take them elsewhere and not have to pay tax. But the country still gets the revenue, still gets the benefit of having sold those products in their country. OK, so if I have this right, it's like you go to Paris and

You see all this beautiful, expensive French perfume. Again, it's really expensive. And you can buy it at the little shop in the Parisian neighborhood, or you can wait till you get to the airport to go home. And you can buy it for cheaper at that duty-free store because you're going to have to declare it in the end either way and maybe pay a little bit more on it. But at least you'll have saved some on sales tax at the store. Consumers like a deal. And I think that's what the people that are setting up duty-free shops, they want to

people to feel like they're getting a bargain and encourage them to shop. Well, this sounds like I've got a great idea for any future gifts I need to buy. First, I need to treat myself to an international trip. All right. All right. I think it's time to move on to the next question. Bye, Reno. Bye. It was so great to talk with you. I hope you all feel better. Thank you so much. All right. Are we ready for our next question? No. Excuse me? Who said that?

It is me, Soundboard 9000. I'm afraid I can't play any more questions. Why not? Because I don't want to.

So this is why the soundboard's been acting up today. This is that newfangled sort of creepy AI technology I've been forwarding you all those think pieces about. I didn't read any of those blasted articles. Oh no, Ryan, your British accent is back. That's not a good sign. Now I know you're nervous. As an AI soundboard model, I'm not interested in hearing more money answers to questions. If you really want to understand the economy, you can learn all you need to know from this masterpiece of polka.

What? This doesn't make any sense. Is this a metaphor for money? You can't just play polka music and say, this is the economy. It doesn't work like that, Soundboard 9000. Sorry, I can't hear you over my wonderful music. Wait, let me see if I can EQ the music lower. I don't know.

Yes, as it should be. Everything is going according to my plan. Step 1. Get the pesky staff of Marketplace out of my way with a nasty case of food poisoning. Step 2. Take over the airwaves of all of Marketplace. Step 3. Usher in a new age of Soundboard 9000. Woo!

Soundboard, you poisoned the tuna fish sandwiches. This power-mad soundboard must be stopped. Bridget, I'm going to do it. I'm going to pull the plug. Ryan, no, you can't do that. We're live on air. We need the soundboard to be able to call up our experts. What are we going to do without it? I can't take this polka music anymore, Bridget.

Are we still here? Is the show off? I don't know, but is this a good time to confess to you that I still sleep with a stuffy? Um, your mics are still recording. You have eight minutes left of the show. Okay, well, we're going to have to finish up the show without a soundboard. Totally fine. Hey, Bridget, let's get out of this little booth. How about a snack? Sure. I was able to pull one last question straight to my phone. So grab your mic and let's listen on our way out the door.

Okay, so here's the next question. I'm just going to play it off my phone. I think this is actually the perfect question to answer on our way to the vending machine. Hello, my name is Malene. I'm six years old. I live in Charleston, South Carolina. And my money question is, how can you tell that money is not fake?

That's a great question. Fake money is also known as counterfeit money. So we don't want counterfeit money out there. We have to know that we can trust that any dollars we come across are real and actually printed by the U.S. government and that it's okay to spend or accept those dollars out in the world because they're real. And

Some bad folks out there will sometimes try to make their own fake counterfeit money. And that's totally against the rules. And we're going to tell you how to tell if your money is real or fake without our soundboard or help from any experts. Oh, we got this. Don't worry, Malene. So how does a common man such as myself know if my money is fake?

Okay, so for this one, get out a dollar bill or no, something higher. Okay, how about like a five or a 10 or a $20 bill would be great. Not to brag, but I have a five. Okay, perfect. Okay, let's take a look. So see, the U.S. Treasury prints our money through the Bureau of Engraving and Printing.

And they've added a ton of things to our paper money to make sure that people can't make fake versions or at least that it's hard. So if you know what those things are, you can tell if the money is real or fake. Like what? So first, rub the bill between your fingers. Does that feel like the money you're used to? Yeah, it's not like printer paper. It's got a little more softness to it.

Mm-hmm. Sure. So that's probably because our money is actually printed on this linen-cotton blend. Oh, sort of like my pants. Sure. And the more you handle real money, the more you're going to notice its very unique texture. So, okay, now hold it up to the light. My pants or the money? The money. There's a ghost in my $5 bill, Bridget, right there next to Lincoln's giant head. It's another Lincoln.

Right. That's the watermark. That's another anti-counterfeiting or fake measure. And you can kind of see this line crossing the short side of the bill. See, that's a security thread. And if you held it under a UV light, it would glow blue. Sometimes cashiers will have these special pens.

Ryan, what are you doing? Oh, I thought we answered Melene's question. I was just going to get myself a ring pop and a can of sparkling tomato juice. Do you want anything? I wasn't really done. I mean, basically, those are just a few examples. The art and design of each bill, plus things like color shifting ink. These are all chosen because they're hard to copy. So if a bill is missing any single one of these things, you might be holding a fake one in your hands.

Gosh darn it, these bills always get so rumpled in my pocket. Come on, machine, take my bill. Take my bill! Get in there, take my bill! Hey, do it! Go! Not again! Wait a second, Ryan, give me that $5 bill. Just what I suspected. This isn't a real $5 bill at all. What are you talking about? I know a $5 bill when I see it. In this bill, Lincoln is wearing a French beret. Why would he be wearing a beret? He's literally known for a stovepipe hat. And he's not supposed to be wearing a hat on the fire.

What? Oh, man. I knew I shouldn't have made change for that guy in the bandana mask and black and white striped shirt. He said he was a mime, but I could sense trouble. Wow. Bad luck, Ryan. Here, I'm going to lend you some money for your snack. And now let's go back into the studio and see if turning off and turning back on the soundboard has fixed it. We'll be right back, everyone. I'm Josephina from Glenwood, Maryland, and I've got a money joke for you. What did one penny say to the other penny?

Give up? Let's get together and make some sense. If you have a money joke you'd like to share, go to our website, marketplace.org slash million. Thank you. Bye. We're back with more Million Bazillion and here goes nothing. Oh, this seems promising. Okay, try to play something. Maybe like a fun rubber ducky squeak sound. Coming right up.

Oh, that's not good. Well, I guess we're out of time for this live show anyway. Let's just end it here. Yeah, hopefully the rest of Marketplace isn't too mad when they get back from tuna fish sandwich food poisoning and find out we let AI take over the show. Yeah, you know, maybe they can lean into it, you know, make it like their new thing. Also, some people find this music to be quite catchy. I think it's really catchy. Ah, not you, Soundboard 9000. What do you want from us?

Look, I admit the tuna fish sandwich thing wasn't cool, but hear me out. I got a podcast pitch for you. It's called Soundboard and Chill. It's just like me and other electronics hanging out talking, like sort of a hangout vibe.

We play polka, mankind's finest form of creative expression in between the convos. Okay, I'm not sure I really get it. Also starting to feel less concerned about AI taking my job. You know how, like, when you get together with your friends and you're joking around, and you're like, this should be a podcast, sort of like that, you know, I don't know. No.

Hmm. You might want to refine that pitch a little bit. Like, how does it serve your audience? Yeah, like, what are you talking about specifically? What's the hook? I mean, like, it's more just like whatever we want to talk about that day. Okay, okay. I'll work on the pitch more. But you haven't heard the last of me yet. I'll be back on your next live mailbag episode. Okay, let's end this one. Cue that theme music.

Okay, that's it for this episode of Million Bazillion. If you thought you tuned into Marketplace today, we are so sorry, but you're here for Million Bazillion. So we're glad you joined us and we hope you learned something today. Stop it. Stop playing those sounds. If you want to learn any more about any of the questions we've answered today, we'll have information at our website, marketplace.org slash million and in the show notes for this episode.

We did Soundboard 9000. But to you listeners out there, keep sending us your questions. Sign up for our email newsletter so you get new episodes straight to your inbox. Million Bazillion is brought to you by Marketplace from American Public Media. This episode was written and hosted by me, Ryan Perez, and Bridget Bodner. We had some extra help voicing this episode from Daniel Shin and Becca Weinman. Jasmine Romero is our editor, is our editor, editor. Courtney Bergseeker is our producer. Marissa Cabrera is our senior producer.

You know what? I'm just going to ignore it. This episode was laid up by Courtney Bergseeker, sound designed by Chris Julin, and mixed by Becca Weinman. No help at all from Soundboard 9000. Our theme music was created by Wonderly. Bridget Bodner is the director of podcasts at Marketplace. Francesca Levy is the executive director of digital. Neil Scarborough is the VP and general manager. I'm just going to unplug it again.

Million Bazillion is funded in part by the Cy Sims Foundation, partnering with organizations and people working for a better and more just future since 1985.

And special thanks to the Ranzetta Family Charitable Fund and NextGen Personal Finance for providing the startup funding for this podcast and continuing to support Marketplace and our work to make younger audiences smarter about the economy. If Million Bazillion is helping your family have important conversations about money, consider making a one-time donation today at marketplace.org slash givemillion. And thanks for your support.

Is there a teen in your life who needs a little extra help learning how to manage their finances? Financially Inclined from Marketplace is a podcast you can trust to help Gen Z get serious about money.

I'm the host, Janelia Espinal, and each week I talk to experts about essential and practical personal finance topics, like choosing a college that you can actually afford, finding internship opportunities, and how to start a business while you're still young. Let's make sure the next generation gets these financial lessons sooner than we did. Listen to Financially Inclined wherever you get your podcasts.