310:2 - Separation of church and state, etc.

310:3 - and send these nutjobs to the Cure!

With a small margin, it has thus been decided that Gogan has no official religion, though the people are free to practice what they wish.

==== Overview ====
Civil Rights: Excellent (68)
Economy: Good (46) [+2]
Political Freedoms: Excellent (70)

The Free Land of Gogan is a massive, cultured nation, ruled by Doctor Marcin with an even hand, and remarkable for its keen interest in outer space. Its compassionate, intelligent population of 2.03 billion have some civil rights, but not too many, enjoy the freedom to spend their money however they like, to a point, and take part in free and open elections, although not too often.

It is difficult to tell where the omnipresent government stops and the rest of society begins, but it devotes most of its attentions to Education, with areas such as Religion & Spirituality and Defence receiving almost no funds by comparison. The average income tax rate is 62%, and even higher for the wealthy. A large private sector is dominated by the Book Publishing industry.

An increasing percentage of the population's youth have homosexual parents, the nation is currently revamping its entire education system, anti-government political posters adorn every building like wallpaper, and citizens living in underground cities have developed a healthy green glow. Crime is totally unknown. Gogan's national animal is the Goglodyte, which is also the nation's favorite main course, and its currency is the Gog.

Gogan is ranked 4,339th in The North Pacific and 95,406th in the world for Largest Mining Sector, scoring -2 on the Blue Sky Asbestos Index.

==== Issues ====
20 hours ago: Following new legislation in Gogan, citizens living in underground cities have developed a healthy green glow.
The overview has been updated following the last decisions made.

Brother, Can You Spare A Dime? (issue 311)
Since the minting of pennies is twice as costly as the coin's stated value, the idea of removing the smallest fractions of the Gog has been brought to your attention.

1. "We are wasting MILLIONS of Gogs on minting pennies!" raves an unusually passionate policy advocate, Imogen James, while handing out 'Penny Dreadful' t-shirts to all your staff. "And all so people have to waste time scrambling through their purses and wallets just to dig out one hundredth of a Gog. Many nations in The North Pacific have already abolished their most worthless coins. It's time for Gogan to follow suit."

2. "That flies in the face of all our time-honored traditions," counters another advocate, this one bedecked in full period dress. "Our favorite national hero is portrayed on the storied one-cent coin, so it would be unpatriotic to discard the penny as worthless scrap. Especially since pennies lower prices slightly for the poorest of the poor. Very, very slightly."

3. "Actually, I think it's high time we got rid of physical currency altogether," says the president of the Chamber of Commerce, Abraham du Pont, flanked by officials from various security agencies. "We should just digitize all money. People spend more when they don't see themselves physically handing over cash, and the benefits to tracking terrorists and other subversives are obvious. That sounds like a solid win-win to me."

==== Public announcement ====

311: 3 - To the moon!!! ┗(°0°)┛

311:1

311: 1 - if each penny costs more to produce than it's worth, time to cut the losses.

311:1

311:3 - inevitable, why not now?

311: 1

311:1

311:1 - finally a way to save some money without hurting anyone.

311:1 - This one seems straightforward; I share Lifthrasil's relief.

311:2 - Pennies are still important for setting exact prices and charging exact taxes. The pennies do add up: not just for consumers, but for businesses and the government as well. Since retiring the penny would force all prices before and after tax to be rounded to the nickel, the small, but cumulative loss of tax revenue (higher prices result in fewer purchases, lower prices result in less tax paid per unit) could actually cost Gogan more than what would be saved on minting costs.
Unless minting a penny costs a nickel, I won't support its retirement.

311:3 - All such concerns over how to round without pennies would be solved by digital currency.