Financial Intelligence
‘We consider it necessary that international trade be established, on an indisputable monetary base as it was the case before the great misfortunes of the world and one that does not bear the mark of any particular country. In truth one can’t see how one could really have any standard criterion, other than gold.’
Charles de Gaulles, 1965
Global Monetary Past, Present and Future
Monetary Past in a Paragraph
From barter to precious metals - gold and silver, to the fall of the Roman Empire, and on to the Fiat status of the world in August 1971, and Gadaffi's fatal attempt to escape the $ with a Gold Dinar, global monetary history is ever-evolving.
Monetary Present in a Paragraph
What a fascinating time for macro level monetary history being made as we live and breathe. Will the BRICS break free from the US Dollar? Will there be an end to fiat? Will the US Dollar survive? Is the crypto boom a nothing burger or a bigjuicy steak?
Monetary Future in a Paragraph
Can you imagine a decentralised system that eliminates the need for a judicial system and end central banking? Or is your mind filled with dystopian CBDCs in full force? What if there was a two-tier society where both exist? Or perhaps there's a new gold standard? Maybe even a return to physical precious metals.
Scotland's Monetary Past, Present and Future
In the recent past Scotland has witnessed derogatory and infantilising narratives centred around a Scottish 'currency'. How could WE be SO stupid to even consider an outlandish notion? Kevin Bridges even did a skit on the subject coming up with a clever suggestion- the 'smackaroonie'.
The reality is, that Scotland's Banking system was once globally revered. For example, The Bank of Scotland was the first bank in Europe to print fixed value bank notes in 1696. Meanwhile, the Bank of England were handwriting theirs, not ready to print theirs until 1697. According to Wikipedia, The Bank of Scotland is the longest continuous banknote issue in the world. Paradoxically, our history, as is often the case, serves as a stark reminder of how much Scotland has been abused by greedy investors and unscrupulous individuals.
That's (not) Legal Tender Pal
Dates for Scotland's historic diary. My aim is to bring together Scotland's banking and monetary history into one place and tie it in with how it fits into the global picture of monetary history. Here are some dates of interest from Scotland and Global monetary history.
1696
The Bank of Scotland prints Europe's first-ever bank notes (promissory notes).
1944
The Bretton Woods Agreement establishes the US Dollar as the world's reserve currency, with the dollar pegged to a gold standard.
2008
The global financial crash. Was it inevitable? It has been crowned the most severe economic crisis since the 1929 Wall St crash, and yet, there are many who benefited from it, or at least, went unharmed, whilst the consequences were felt by ordinary people who trusted the system to allow them prosper. How did the crash affect Scotland?
1690s
The Scottish founder of the Bank of England, William Paterson, concocts The Darien Scheme.
1971
August 15th, President Richard Nixon announces that the convertibility of the US Dollar to gold will 'temporarily' be disabled putting the whole world onto fiat for the first time in history.
2009
Despite being under the watchful eye of the Bank of England since 1997, the Royal Bank of Scotland somehow managed to wrack up losses, equating to the biggest corporate losses in British history. The failure ushered in the Banking Act of 2009, rendering Scotland's financial matters 100% controlled by another nation state.
1707
Scotland's banking system is merged with England and Wales to achieve the same monetary standard.
1997
The Bank of England's Agency for Scotland was established, granting operational independence over Scotland. With hindsight, the first step towards total control?
2014
Debates around a Scottish currency are rife during the Scottish referendum. Derision of Scottish promissory notes being of lesser status than the same printed paper in England ensued, with counter arguments focused on Scotland's historic banking position.