Splendid stuff from Jim Sillars on the currency options in an independent Scotland. He’s scathing about the SNP’s choice of a currency union with the remainder of the UK and argues his case with commendable clarity. It’s encouraging to see a well-known politician getting to grips with the substance of an issue and expressing his…

Here’s a nice clear article by Iain Macwhirter about currency options for an independent Scotland. He looks at the experience of Slovakia which entered a brief currency union with the Czech Republic before being forced to go its own way, eventually joining the euro in 2009. He’s careful not to make direct comparisons with Scotland’s…

Money, Morality, And The Value Of A Clean Pan

I’m not sure how we got here, but we live in a world where money has become the unit that we use to measure value. When we ask how much something is worth, we’re asking how much money someone would be prepared to pay for it. But how much we pay for something – how much…

Here’s an excellent article by Frances Coppola on a late 18th century version of basic income in the parish of Speen in Berkshire, and more general history of poor relief in English parishes at the time. Sadly the perverted “morality” of the wealthy demanding work-for-welfare from the poor is still alive and well today. Consider…

I’m Tired Of The Big Fat Lie

Our politicians, the economists who advise them, and the journalists who report their words and deeds tell us over and over again that our country is “living beyond its means” and the government will “run out of money” unless it “balances the books”. We’re told that government spending is restricted to the amount of money…

Another economist catching onto the idea of a a universal basic income. John Aziz, writing for The Week, argues that minimum wage is a flawed concept that should be replaced by a universal basic income, which solves the problem of low wages as well as getting rid of welfare benefits and the huge unproductive government…

Just finished reading Blossom by Lesley Riddoch. It’s an account of Lesley’s investigations into various aspects of Scottish life over the years and her analysis of what needs to happen to allow the people of Scotland to flourish. The topics that she covers could easily have dragged the book down into the “worthy but dull”…

This is a good video from Jon Krajack, exploding the myth that government debt and deficits are a problem. If you follow it to the end you’ll discover that without government deficits there would be no private sector surplus – no savings for you and me, no spare money for business investment. You’ll also find…