As my time in the UK comes to a close, of all the things I’ve learned in the four months living here, the most fascinating and intriguing thing is The British Pound Sterling – the currency used in the UK.
To the right are pics of some of the money that I used in the UK, each issued by separate banks. These are only three examples of the eight banks that are allowed to issue money in the UK, which include the Bank of England.
Some of the questions that I’d have:
- Who owns these banks? (for that matter, who owns the Federal Reserve Bank?)
- Scotland and Wales each have peaceful independence movements. What is likely to happen to their banking systems when they declare their independence from the UK, especially considering none of those eight banks are based in Wales?
- How and why did this system start?
- Is it better or worse than the standard central banking systems of the world and in what ways? My gut tells me the UK banking system is better than the Federal Reserve System in the US.
Wikipedia isn’t to be trusted on crucially important questions like these, but if you’d like to understand the basics, here’s the Wikipedia article and here’s an explanation from the official Bank of England’s website.
An Austrian perspective?
I tried to find an article that went deeper and explained the phenomenon of the Pound from an Austrian perspective (the only perspective that I’d trust). I couldn’t find anything clear cut. There are some semi-related articles on mises.org, though.
You’ve probably heard the infamous, unverified quote from Mayor Rothschild in the early 19th century:
“Permit me to issue and control the money of a nation, and I care not who makes its laws!”
The Rothschild banking family owns much of the world’s central banking system, thus they control much of the world.
With this fact in mind, I wonder, has there been a secret struggle for centuries over control of the Pound? Do those eight banks have agreements, like mob crime bosses would have, over their geographical territories? So many unanswered questions. I’m sure peasants like us will never know the answers.
Click here for ways that you can show your support for my blog.
