What I fear more -- and fear that we will see first -- is deflation, which hammers debtors and acts like an intensifier for wealth (those who have it) . . . which is why Timmy Geithner et al. are so busy pushing us in that direction.

http://theautomaticearth.blogspot.com/

The tag might not say $20, but it will feel the same, or worse.

Those who owe will choose inflation. Those owed to will choose stagnation.

This is how it has happened in the past, and currently, it is those owed who seem to have the upper hand with those who implement public policy.

"Hope For Inflation, Prepare For Deflation"

http://bit.ly/cRQpMd

http://real-economics.blogspot.com/2010/08/russian-fires-rage-on.html

The fallout from this ecological disaster will be felt by every human on earth. Russia has never had such a heat wave in recorded history and the country is hopelessly unprepared.

Vladimir Putin bans grain exports as drought and wildfires ravage crops

• More than a third of cultivable land in Russia destroyed
• Wheat prices hit 23-month high on commodities market

Factor in this disaster. In addition to deflation or inflation plans, our loaf of bread will become much more costly.

The sad part about the dollar coins is that there's quite the demand for them, and the whole problem could be solved if the US declared, point blank, that the dollar coin would be the standard. Canada did the same thing back in the Eighties and Nineties, with the $1 and $2 coins becoming incredibly popular. The problem here is that one family controls the supply of ink and paper for the US Mint, and they make a lot of money from the continued production of $1 and $2 bills. (Now, you want a denomination nobody wants, look at the $2 Jefferson bill.) They make enough money that they can afford to buy enough Congressional lobbyists to make sure that things don't change.

That said, I've heard the complaints about how "I don't want a pocket or purse full of $1 coins." Realistically, considering how many transactions are done by credit or debit card these days, the only people complaining about having to switch out $1 bills for $1 coins are the little old ladies who are also bitching about having to pay for than a quarter for a daily newspaper. They won't be happy until we return to the days when we can buy a jug of whiskey with raccoon and beaver pelts.

One of the Mint's biggest screwups was the Susan B. Anthony dollar. It was too easy to confuse for a quarter, and that pretty much wrecked the idea of its ever gaining acceptance.

All they had to do was come up with something good-looking that wouldn't be mistaken for a quarter. But the Sacagawea coins and now the dopey presidents are pretty awful.

The Canadian $2 coin is one of the best I have ever seen, anywhere. No wonder it caught on.

Or....

We could get out of the quagmire known as Afghanistan, kill most ag subsidies (nothing more than corporate welfare), and stop paying for defense programs evene the genrals say they don't want.

And maybe look at some current tax deductions.....