Analytical, non-advocacy papers on cash rounding statutes, federal coin legislation and the evidence each one assumes. Every paper is readable in full on this site and available as a PDF.
For dated source analysis rather than long-form papers, see the research and analysis library. For statutory profiles by jurisdiction, see cash rounding laws by state.
Why the cheaper nickel Congress just authorized depends on an evaluation no one can currently perform.
The Common Cents Act conditions a change in nickel composition on minimal adverse impact to coin-accepting machines. No public evidence base exists against which that condition can be evaluated.
Kyle Hatfield, Daniel Hobin, Alex Ortega · July 2026
Why America cannot answer the question Congress just asked about cash rounding, and what would make it answerable.
A federal directive requires an assessment of how cash rounding affects low-income, older, and unbanked consumers. The per-transaction record that would answer it does not exist in any current system.
Kyle Hatfield, Daniel Hobin, Alex Ortega · July 2026
Since the last circulating penny was minted in November 2025, twenty states have built cash rounding laws around the nickel. None is designed to adapt if the denomination changes again.
A statutory drafting analysis of the twenty enacted cash rounding laws, examining what happens to each if the smallest circulating denomination changes a second time.
Kyle Hatfield, Daniel Hobin, Alex Ortega · August 2026