"I agree" Tell Harvard Salmond to start saying that over the next few days (the markets will love it) . Though it increases your import costs from UKminus by about 40% immediately.
Of course, what is called sterlingisation is an option for an independent Scotland. However, it would be without the umbrella of the lender of last resort, the BOE. Yes, Scotland would need it's own central bank eventually. Where would RBS & HBOS be now if the BOE hadn't bailed them out when the crisis hit? What if another crisis hit after independence? Another question Scots should ask themselves is this. One of the functions of a central bank, such as the BOE is to guarantee bank deposits up to a certain amount. How many people are going to hold money in Scottish bank accounts knowing that in the event of a bank collapse the Scottish Gvt would have no hope of repaying them?
I think PNP's point was that the Adam Smith Institute put forward policies that are good for a few, the rich and the powerful, and bad for the rest, the poor and the vulnerable. Spurf, I don't know how old you are or if you had to live through the dark days of Thatcher but I would not trust them further than I could throw Eric Pickles.
And what would Ecuador's cost of borrowing be, assuming they can find lenders? Well, here's the answer http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-...et-return-today-five-years-after-default.html As you can see, they have had to pay almost 8% interest to borrow $2bln, which I assure you is not a massive amount in sovereign borrowing terms. For comparison, the US 10yr bond trades around 2.5%. Any country can borrow in whatever currency they choose. However, without the umbrella of that currency's lender of last resort, they must rely on their own individual credit rating to attract lenders.
[video=youtube;L5FQm_P9yh4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=L5FQm_P9yh4[/video] THis is the kind of thinking the YES campaign is up against.
7 days until we find out if the people of Scotland have made a decision with their heads ( to vote No) or a decision based around false dreams (to vote Yes).
"And what would Ecuador's cost of borrowing be, assuming they can find lenders?" http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-...et-return-today-five-years-after-default.html The first laymans thing that came up for a cursory search.
I don't. They're explicitly and self-described Tory ****houses, Spurf. They're the exact people that you're railing against. They quote Ronald ****ing Reagan on the front page of their website and want to reduce public spending, reduce taxes on corporations and the rich and reduce regulations on banks and big business. They're anti-Socialist, pro-capitalist, pro-privatisation and their blog today is moaning about environmentalists being... environmentalists. There's an earlier entry discussing how good sweat shops are for Bangladeshi women and that's not even a joke.
[video=youtube;23m6CukRUGM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23m6CukRUGM&feature=player_detailpage[/video] Andrew Neil and his NO camp questions DEMOLISHED!
They don't want Scotland to do well, Spurf. They're giving out advice that is good for private banks, not for the country itself. The advice in the paper is to basically become a sneaky haven for rich people and **** everyone else, then you'd be successful. How on earth does that fit in with everything else that you've claimed that an independent Scotland should do?
You think that people would lend in the Ecuadorean currency at a better rate if it happened to exist? Ecuador has had a much better economy since dumping its own currency and using USD because the disadvantages of not having control over monetary policy are outweighed by the stability.
"Ecuador has had a much better economy since dumping its own currency and using USD because the disadvantages of not having control over monetary policy are outweighed by the stability." As I said, you cannot pick a better currency to use. When was the last time there has been a serious run on USD ??
I think it is instructive that the Tories oppose break up of the UK and want to keep the GBP across the whole union but support break up of the EU and oppose the EUR. It would be quite mysterious if the way the UK and Europe was governed 400 years ago turned out to be the best way today.....
"I think it is instructive that the Tories oppose break up of the UK and want to keep the GBP across the whole union but support break up of the EU and oppose the EUR." Is there an economic argument for say Wales to remain part of the UK yet use a different currency ??
I worked as a trader in the capital Mkts for over 20 years. 30 years ago, the primary borrowing currency was USD. As I say, anybody can borrow in whatever currency - So long as they have sufficient independent credit rating to attract lenders. FYI, in the loans mkt, countries such as Cuba and even North Korea have borrowed in USD. Everyday use of the currency has absolutely nothing to do with your ability to borrow in it. That is predicated on your credit rating alone. The other reason for borrowing in a major currency, such as USD, is liquidity. The tradability of the Ecuadorian currency, should it exist, would be close to zero.
