The news from Canada is both trivial and upset; they wont be making shiny new pennies anymore. The government in Ottawa has made this decision after years of deliberation, for reasons that would seem to apply equally well in the United States. Pennies cost more to produce than they are worth. Yet because of inflation, they are worth so little that many Canadians dont bother to use them at all. Its not very different in New York City. In January, when Starbucks raised the price of a 12-ounce cup of coffee in Manhattan to $2.01, with taxes, many coffee drinkers were appalled—not so much by the cost as by the indignity of needing to grope for pennies. Inflation is sometimes cited as a threat whenever small coins are phased out. A $ 2. 01 cup of coffee should be rounded down to $ 2, while $ 2.03 should become $ 2.05, for example, but retailers in the real world might raise prices more than lower them. That could cause a small, one-time inflation burst.