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And now a word from scrooge
The Bush administration has appealed a decision by U.S. District Court Judge James Robertson requiring the introduction of features into U.S. currency to aid the blind and visually impaired. In his decision, Judge Robertson noted that the U.S. is the only one of the 180 nations that issue paper currency that prints bills that are identical in size and color for all denominations. The administration argues in the appeal that the cost of changing the currency would be prohibitively expensive, and further argues that the visually impaired have other options, such as credit cards or portable currency readers.
I can see the argument regarding the costs. It would cost tens of millions of dollars to retool the Bureau of Printing and Engraving to produce different sized denominations, and the vending industry would also face significant cost issues. However, to argue that the blind must use credit or buy portable currency reading devices seems a bit insensitive to me. The administration seems unwilling to even consider alternative features that might be less cost prohibitive, such as including braille or some form of texturing to distinguish the denominations. Maybe these aren't feasible solutions, but how would we know if nobody takes time to look into them?
I've always thought that the currency design in other countries seemed more sensible than ours here, with the different denominations easy to quickly and accurately recognize, visually handicapped or not. I'll be curious about how this appeal is decided and what the future of the greenback will be.
[via NPR News.]
I can see the argument regarding the costs. It would cost tens of millions of dollars to retool the Bureau of Printing and Engraving to produce different sized denominations, and the vending industry would also face significant cost issues. However, to argue that the blind must use credit or buy portable currency reading devices seems a bit insensitive to me. The administration seems unwilling to even consider alternative features that might be less cost prohibitive, such as including braille or some form of texturing to distinguish the denominations. Maybe these aren't feasible solutions, but how would we know if nobody takes time to look into them?
I've always thought that the currency design in other countries seemed more sensible than ours here, with the different denominations easy to quickly and accurately recognize, visually handicapped or not. I'll be curious about how this appeal is decided and what the future of the greenback will be.
[via NPR News.]