Comments on: Bravepurse

By: Rache

Rache — Tue, 25 Feb 2014 19:27:14 +0000

But Scotland already has its own coin? I remember to have used it. So I dont get it!

By: Dave Birch

Dave Birch — Mon, 17 Feb 2014 14:05:39 +0000

“Would be funny to see Sterling become the black market currency.”

It already is.

By: neil21

neil21 — Fri, 14 Feb 2014 00:06:41 +0000

So, you’d have to pay your taxes in eScotBux/thistles too.

Govt revenue: taxes, (parking, library) fines, fees (for planning permission and such). Govt expenses: public sector salaries (teachers, doctors? the NHS is distinct in Scotland?) welfare/benefits, pensions.

Oil? Other countries would need to buy eScotBux in order to buy oil. Whisky exporters.

If private sector workers were still getting paid in Sterling, wouldn’t there be a spike in eScotBux with all the conversions at year end? Or maybe the govt would accept Sterling tax payments at an agreed low rate, in order to get some foreign currency reserves? Or maybe PAYE would smooth this mostly.

We’d need an app for speediness, probably. Then cabbies and small retailers could switch with one download.

Would be funny to see Sterling become the black market currency. You’d still pay your cash plumber etc. in Sterling I presume.

By: Jane Adams

Jane Adams — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 09:35:58 +0000

Forget about the Thistle. We could just call it the Pound Stirling.

By: Mark King

Mark King — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 04:41:06 +0000

I’m sure we had an exactly matched pound with Eire for quite a long time, including after the end of the gold standard, and even co-ordinated decimalisation. The Cubans used the US dollar for a while, at least for tourists, but the US government didn’t let US citizens use them there, making all-inclusive holidays from Canada popular. Scottish pound notes already have a different exchange rate in Prague. (Better rate buying pounds, worse selling.)

By: René Bastien

René Bastien — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 02:18:03 +0000

Dave, yet again an excellent post. There is another side to the story which might be of interest. If the Scots vote for independence, they will not need the permission of England to continue to use British currency. One just has to consider how American dollars are used worldwide to understand this. You can pretty much buy anything in US$ anywhere in the world, and even receive change in US$ (even though you do prefer using your phone to do so). Think of how the American dollar has been used as a quasi-official currency in Lebanon for decades, as a practical example. This is just reality, and extra-territorial usage of a currency obeys to the laws of supply and demand, and none other. Supply and demand will drive the unofficial rate of exchange.

Now, if one wants to delve into the political realm, one could take a look at various comments and studies done over the years in the province of Quebec. Jacques Parizeau, the former independentist Premier of Quebec and a renowned economist (he studied at the London School of Economics), stated publicly that Quebec did not need anyone's permission to use any currency, should the people of Quebec vote for independence. Studies were executed under the ''Commission d’étude des questions afférentes à l’accession du Québec à la souveraineté'', including one that deals specifically with monetary policy.

These are complex questions, and I find that politics usually complicates things even more. Having gone through this as a Quebecer, it sounds like déjà vu. The political arguments are more about playing on the people's attachment to known symbols, like in this case the british pound. Sadly, the Scots have not heard the last of it.