A name for the new money

Like most currencies, the euro is seen as essential, but not exactly respected. The copper coins, were always steel coated in copper and are beginning to be known as eurorouille, or eurorust. This gave me an idea for a name for the new money, Qrust. Earning a crust is a well known saying in English, but using the Q at the front makes it a new word, reminds us of Quid. Because our coins are old they do often have slight oxidation but this is self protecting verdigris, or patina. The metal mellows rather than disintigrates as iron will. The copper content makes them anti-microbial, and so even though nearly 100 years old and often dirty, they are less likely to carry hamful germs than any steel surface, even stainles steel. Does anyone have any thoughts on the name Qrust, or any other suggestions?

A money for anyone who wants to put a gentle 3 fingers up to The System (2)

coinsmercure 002The coins have an image of the God Mercury. His image was also used on Belgan coins just after the first and second world war, and in other places at other times. The Romans assimilated various gods of their conquered peoples under his image. Gods such as Woden, Odin, Lugas, Lieu, and Hermes have powers and areas of interest that overlap with Mercury. The English day of the week Wednesday was named after the Saxon God Woden which coincides with the French Mercredi named after Mercury. Of course there is a planet Mercury and the metallic element, described sometimes as watery silver. Altogether we have a series of overlapping ideas, which are fairly well in tune with our purpose.

A money for anyone who wants to put a gentle 3 fingers up to The System

Money used to be made of gold silver or copper. Right up to the first world war, you could change paper money for gold sovereigns at the Bank of England. Then it could be changed for US dollars, and central banks could change those for gold. But since the 1970’s paper money is only supported by the fact that businesses accept it.Silver and copper coins have become copper plated steel. Paper money has become figures on a computer screen. When you borrow money from a bank they simply write it on your facebook timeline, more or less, and charge you interest.

Time to get a bit more dignity. Let’s have our own money, at least as a symbol. So I’ve  set up an association to promote an alternative money. We’re starting with the 1920’s French chamber of commerce coins. They were not issued by any governement and replaced the governement issued coins, because the metal they were made of had become worth more than the face value. They are made of bronze alu, and so contain copper unlke any new UK coin, as they are nearly all now steel, with just a coating of nickel or copper.

Local money for collectables

Many transactions are made on line rather than in shops these days. Auction sites often cater for small businesses, and these businesses are just as in need of protection from banks and multinationals as high street shops. Some sites are so big and multy purpose that it is hard to have an influence, but others serve a community of people with a common interest. A complimentary currency would aid traders on such sites in the same way that local currencies do in Bristol Stroud Lewes Brixton and other transition towns. The benefits of keeping money circulating within a local community is still applicable to an international community. Collectors of Postcards, stamps, old coins, etc. often make purchases on line of just a few pounds and choose to pay by cheque, or even postage stamps, within their own country, but this is not possible for international transactions, even within the euro-zone. Often the alternative is Paypal which costs a very significant part of the transaction, exactly the type of leakage a local currency is designed to prevent.
There are still many countries that paypal does not recognise. A complementary currency would avoid these charges and could be used by a collector in any country. Before there were internet sites many collectors would meet at fairs and continue to exchange items by correspondance, but internationally this was often limited to barter, as there is no international money, especially one that can be sent by post. The currency I am suggesting would be a voucher for the currency issuers online shop and any other collectors registered on the site. There will be no exchange back to sterling or any other fiat currency, so it would be very difficult for any postal thief to dispose of the currency, especially if the sender had noter the serial N°s., more difficult, in fact, than for the postcards or stamps travelling in the oposite direction.
The currency issuer would however back the currency 100% with collectable assets in their online and on-street shop. The real value of the currency to a collector would be of course that they could buy collectables with it, but the issuer will always keep a suply of mint stamps valid for postage in each of the major countries and for sale at face value in exchange for the complementary currency. These would be mainly permanent value stamps, such as 1st or 2nd class UK stamps, and this would be part of the back-up for the currency allowing it to hold its real value. One currency unit would always be worth about 8 UK 2nd class stamps and so its value in sterling would rise over time. Its value would be based on a range of items, not just the UK 2nd class stamp so it wouldn’t have gone up by 38% this year as the stamp has, but certainly by 5% making it a collectable in itself.

Real Money, Local Money

The revolutionary government will need to think very carefully about the monetery system. Britain has been the world leader in many things in the past, certainly railways as we have already mentioned, but also ship building, car, motor-bike, and push-bike manufacture, canals, aircraft manufacture, my father was still carying a tiny prototype piece of concorde that he had made over 40 years earlier, when he died. Many things were invented in Britain, from the spinning jenny to ultrasound and the hover-craft. From this inventiveness and skills came world leading products, and the structure behind the industrial devopment. Lloyds of London was the world leading insurer, the city of London was the worlds financial centre, when it served enterprise. The Pound was made of gold and heald a steady value.
Why can’t England compete anymore? Because the international monetary system is rigged against it. There is a real problem in that workers in many counties have less social protection than in England, and I have already proposed many measures to counteract the effec tof this. There is also a problem caused by the monetry system itself. Several towns in Britain and elswhere have introduced local money, in a bid to keep money circulating in their own town. Examples are Bristol, Lexes, Brixton, and Stroud. All of them become worth less with time, either along with sterling or at a faster rate. The loss in value encourages a quick turn around of the money, and funds the costs of the system and maybe local charities. Many transition towns also encourage ecological projects.
These are brave attempts to support small business  against international business and government tolerence of their massive tax avoidance. But for the economy to flourish properly, government action is required. Stability and fairness probably sums it up.

Wage levels.

Wages should be at a level than an ordinary person can live on. On the other hand a global market place employment will tend to move to counties where wages are lowest. Free market forces should lead to a reasonable balance, but that’s not what’s happening. Markets aren’t free, they are manipulated. The price of commodities is fixed by futures and options markets, and curency exchange rates are fixed on the forex market in the US. Because of leverage, often a far greater amount of an item is traded on the exchanges than actually exists in reality. David Cameron once said that England couldn’t compete in the manufacture of ordinary clothing, and wouldn’t want to, but there is a place for English
business in the higher end of the market. No-one wants a job in a clothes factory that pays £ 400 a week + 4 silver shillings? The skills still exist, and keen workers could be trained in a few months, and the average pay in the textile industry in the UK is £ 612 a week. So surely £ 400 is reasonable to start rising to £ 600 for skilled efficient workers, and more for the more difficult jobs. English workers have better social conditions than Bangladeshi workers. The UK consumer should pay the same towards pensions, heath cover etc. wheather the item is made in England or not. The revolutionary will lower Nation insurance contributions for English workers and their employers and charge the equivalent in customs duties on goods arriving from countries where the workers have no such cover.
Countries that provide reasonable cover for their workers will be exempt. This should help to improve conditions in the far east whilst providing employment at reasonable rates in England.

Economic theory, how to deal with banks. 1

This is intended as a guide for the leader of the revolutionary governement. He or she will need some understanding of economics in order to stand up to the banks and the rich in general. It’s not that hard, but they will try to convince you that it is. Banks have the power to create money and charge interest on it when they lend it to you. They just have to lodge about 10% of the amount they loan with the central bank, (Bank of England). They gamble with your savings on the markets. They collude to rig the markets, remember the LIBOR scandel. Banks were accused of lying about the interest rate for inter-bank loans.
There are 2 main economic theories, one says the government can manage the real economy by borrowing in the bad times, adjusting interest rates and printing money.
The other theory is that anything a government does is almost certain to make things worse in the medium term. Leave the free market free and it will work. Both have a point, though neither work well, but the UK has tried both at different times, and seems to be trying both at once at the moment. It is also cutting normal peoples incomes, robbing their savings with inflation and  interest rates of less than 1%, whilst allowing companies to charge 4000%  interest on loans to the poor, and now needs to make further cuts in govenment spending so as to lend money to the international monetary fund, yes really.

Workers supplement

Working tax credits to be phased out over a year and replaced by a workers supplement in the form of silver coins called shillings, worth £5 at the outset, but the exchenge value will be adjusted so as to maintain the purchasing power in the face of inflation, so becoming £6 in about 6 years.

China now sees western currencies as simply representing government debt and has reached an understanding with countries such as Brazil, Russia, India, South Africa, The United Arab Emirates, Chile, Iran and Japan to use their own currencies, or barter, instead of the US dollar for international exchanges. We will need to have something these countries want if we are to continue to buy from them. Although to begin with the shilling will have value because it can be exchanged for the pound, in a few years the pounds value will be supported because it can be exchanged for the shilling.

The workers supplement will be paid pro-rata for part-time working. The full rate will be for full time on minimum wage to minimum wage plus 30%, and above that it will reduce by 14% of your income above 1.3 times minimum wage, so it will reduce to zero at about 500 pounds a week.

The supplement is only for certain types of worker. Those who work in industry or construction and who do the actual work, including maintenance, cleaning, but not what might be described as office or management work. Farm workers who actually do the real work are included, and telephone switchboard operators, and call centre operators who recieve calls from the puplic.

The idea is to encourage home manufacture of goods instead of impoting them from china and the like. Call centres are another type of job that is leaving the country. But the new govenment will encourage telephone operators based where the real work is done rather than call centres, except where it is geuinely a central place of allocation.

The jobs excluded are the service industries, office jobs, and shops. Jobs working on computers, are excluded, but manufacture maintenace and repair will be included.

Repair work of all kinds will be included, this is usually better for the environment and often saves on imports.