Scottish Monetary Reform
and the Campaign for a
Clean Scottish Currency
The Monetary Policy pages of the draft CONSTITUTION CONSULTATION
The Monetary Policy website of the Scottish Constitution Consultation
Independence is about withdrawing from an unsatisfactory system of government in Westminster - the home of Misery Economics, and moving on to something more appropriate to Scotland - Sunshine Economics. The Constitutional role of Currency & Finance in achieving this is very significant and predicated upon the State recovering its authority over the National Currency.
If States truly control monetary policy then whatever is socially desirable & physically possible becomes financially possible.
Yet public investment is still constrained by the State borrowing credit from its own banking system on the collateral of the taxpayer. The National Debt can neither be serviced nor repaid. It is the device of financial capitalism to control our democratic institutions.
Independence offers the opportunity of restoring financial sovereignty to Scotland.
NB These principles are in the context of Scotland but are reflected in all important detail in the webpages of Positive Money and Sovereign Money.
Today we live in a world with two kinds of money -
First, the notes & coins created by State Treasuries as their National Currencies as the official medium of exchange within their borders. It exists both in physical form as cash or for security and convenience as digital cash
This money is not and has never been debt of any kind and is called Seignior age It is spent into circulation by the government and as such carries the guarantee of the State.
The second kind of money results from a commercial contract between a borrower and a lender, usually the business of commercial banks. Banks are licensed by their host States to deal in the National Currency subject to regulation.
States need not go into debt except if they borrow the currency of another State.
These are facts which relate directly to all States issuing their own fiat currencies. There is however a legacy of National Debt which was established when a National Currency was all gold. In those days Governments had no option but to borrow from the public – until The Gold Standard was abolished in 1971.
So today Governments choose to pay interest on this historic debt, replace maturing bonds and issue new ones – over a trillion since 2008. It’s all paid for with the same digital cash provided and guaranteed by the taxpayer. The financial market-makers will of course give you an explanation for this – if you have the patience to listen, but public debt is a shibboleth, a keystone of financial capitalism which has no place in a progressive 21st century democracy.
thinking outside the Establishment Box
The "Moving On" sample pages give a brief background to the book and provides two specimen chapters – the first by Andy Anderson, a graduate economist and trade union officer, on the alternative economic principles of independence and the second by co- author Ronnie Morrison, an accountant with business interests in manufacturing and investment banking. Here is all you need to know about the transition from Sterling, public investment, pensions and bank regulation.
Review -
"This book is a revelation. Although it appears to be written as a wake-up call to the Salmond led SNP, showing that a separate currency for Scotland is the one and only way to obtain true freedom from financial oppression, I see it as a wider blueprint which must be observed and acted upon for the benefit of all people, in all countries, ..............." Ronald Rankin
The About Us page provides a little background about the Centre for Scottish Constitutional Studies and the Scottish Monetary Reform organisation - part of the international movement which now includes several prominent universities and associated professors of economics & finance.
If you would like to discuss a presentation or speaker for a meeting please contact us at the address below.
Ronnie Morrison
This tab introduces you to a speech by Dr Mahathir, the Prime Minister of Malaysia who successfully steered his country through the Asian financial crisis of 1997. In 2018 aged 92, he has once again been returned as Prime Minister with the primary brief of restoring the National finances. It will be interesting to see if he can rekindle his radical magic....
The article is included here because it illustrates how a small nation can take control of its own destiny in the face of opposition from the IMF, the World Bank, financial markets, the stock exchange and its domestic banks. It is a real life experience to counter the scaremongers and ”ye cannae dae it” pessimists who filled the vacuum of 2014 .
The Video page provides links to videos & other websites directly relevant to currency and the impact of monetary policy on democratic institutions. The video Banking and Society is a layman’s introduction to the last financial crisis and illustrates how these could be avoided in future. in Scotland.
The Declaration of Arbroath
The Greek Myth. This is an account of how the international mega banks lent far too many euros to the Greek banks. When they threatened to default it caused a financial crisis.
It is in the form of an essay entered for the Wolfson Prize in Economics and advised the government to abandon the euro and reintroduce its own national currency - the drachma.
Unfortunately the Greek Cabinet could not muster the confidence to do this and the Greek economy remains stagnant and the home of democracy a financial shambles. It should be a salutary lesson for all politicians - if you do not control your currency you are just another customer of the banks.....
