Research Director of the Adam Smith Institute and author of the report “Quids In: How sterlingization and free banking could help Scotland flourish”, Sam Bowman, appeared on CNBC to discuss the paper’s proposed policy of ‘adaptive sterlingization.’
The report, “Quids In: How sterlingization and free banking could help Scotland flourish”, can be read and downloaded for free here.
Ahead of tonight's BBC referendum debate, Research Director and author of the ASI’s new report “Quids In: How sterlingization and free banking could help Scotland flourish”, Sam Bowman, writes for The Yorkshire Post:
SCOTS HAVE rightly focused on the question of currency as they prepare to decide whether to vote for or against independence next month. In the last television debate between Alex Salmond and Alastair Darling, the SNP leader struggled to explain how Scotland would cope without a formal currency union with the rest of the UK. Tonight, he will need to do better.In a new paper for the Adam Smith Institute, I offer a solution to Salmond’s problem. I argue that an independent Scotland should continue using the pound sterling without a currency union. Combined with a system of financial reform based on Scotland’s most successful period in economic history, this system of ‘adaptive sterlingisation’ could give Scotland a highly stable banking system and economy in the long run.
The report, “Quids In: How sterlingization and free banking could help Scotland flourish”, can be read and downloaded for free here.
A new report from the Adam Smith Institute, “Quids In: How sterlingization and free banking could help Scotland flourish”, was featured in CityAM, The Huffington Post and The Sun Online. The report argues that an independent Scotland could have a more stable economy than the rest of the UK if adopted a policy of, what it calls, ‘adaptive sterlingization’, which combines unilateral use of the pound with financial reforms to remove government protection of established banks.
Yesterday the Adam Smith Institute (ASI) published a report arguing that Alex Salmond's plan B, using sterling without a currency union, should actually be plan A. The report outlined how "adaptive sterlingsation" could benefit the Scottish economy by acting as a market-based mechanism to stabilise demand during a downturn.
Furthermore, the repeal of financial regulations that privilege established banks could keep Scottish banks prudent as there would be no deposit insurance or central bank to act as a lender of last resort, according to the ASI.
A new report from the Adam Smith Institute said that "sterlingisation", combined with reforms to banking regulations, could lead to banks taking fewer risks, reducing the likelihood of future financial crises.
Sam Bowman, research director at the Adam Smith Institute and the author of the report, said Scotland was "almost uniquely primed for such a system of 'adaptive sterlingisation'".
The prospect of Scotland using the pound with the formal agreement of the rest of the UK, and without the back-up of having the Bank of England as a lender of last resort, was raised as Salmond comes under increasing pressure in the run-up to next month's referendum to set out an alternative to a currency union.
From The Sun Online:
A report by the Adam Smith Institute claims our banks would take fewer risks after independence if they cut ties to the Bank of England.
The study says the result would be greater stability than in the UK — limiting the danger of another disastrous crash like in 2008.
Author Sam Bowman, research director at the Institute, said: “The path outlined would go almost unnoticed by the average Scot.
“But at the next big economic shock they might wonder why their system was so much more stable than that of the country they left behind."
The report, “Quids In: How sterlingization and free banking could help Scotland flourish”, can be read and downloaded for free here.
The Adam Smith Institute's Communications Manager, Kate Andrews, commented on the Venezuelan president's plan to implement fingerprinting systems in supermarkets in CityAM:
The President of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, has announced plans for a major mandatory fingerprinting system to combat the increasingly dire food shortages and rampant smuggling afflicting the Latin American state......Communications manager at the Adam Smith Institute, Kate Andrews, said:
A system that needs to implement heavy surveillance in local food markets or deploy 17,000 troops along the border to prevent the smuggling of staple food items is a failed system indeed. Rather than allocating time and resources into policing the purchases of apples and pears, President Maduro should abolish price controls, creating an economy where commerce and consumption are encouraged, not criminalised.
Read the full article here.
On Thursday (21 August 2014), STV's Scotland Tonight featured the Adam Smith Institute's new report "Quids In: How sterlingization and free banking could help Scotland flourish”. The feature included an interview with the report's author and Research Director of the Adam Smith Institute, Sam Bowman. It also included an interview with the Executive Vice President of Atlas Bank in Panama, Ariel San Martine-Mendez.
The report, “Quids In: How sterlingization and free banking could help Scotland flourish”, can be read and downloaded for free here.
Research Director and author of the ASI’s new report “Quids In: How sterlingization and free banking could help Scotland flourish”, Sam Bowman, writes for The Wall Street Journal Europe:
The Scottish independence debate has been dominated by one question: What currency would an independent Scotland use? Ever since Chancellor George Osborne ruled out the prospect of a formal currency union between Scotland and the rest of the United Kingdom, Alex Salmond's Scottish Nationalists have evaded the question, threatening their chances of victory in next month's referendum on a split from the U.K.
But if Scots looked to their own history they would find a surprisingly simple solution. The best choice for Scotland, even better than a currency union, would be "adaptive sterlingization"—use of the British pound without a currency union with the rest of the U.K., combined with financial reforms that removed deposit insurance, reserve requirements and central-bank protections from banks.
Read the full article here.
The report, “Quids In: How sterlingization and free banking could help Scotland flourish”, can be read and downloaded for free here.
The report argues that an independent Scotland could have a more stable economy than the rest of the UK if adopted a policy of, what it calls, ‘adaptive sterlingization’, which combines unilateral use of the pound with financial reforms to remove government protection of established banks.
Research Director of the Adam Smith Institute and author of the report “Quids In: How sterlingization and free banking could help Scotland flourish”, Sam Bowman, appeared on BBC Scotland to discuss the paper's proposed policy of 'adaptive sterlingization.'
The report, “Quids In: How sterlingization and free banking could help Scotland flourish”, can be read and downloaded for free here.
Research Director of the Adam Smith Institute and author of the ASI's report “Quids In: How sterlingization and free banking could help Scotland flourish” speaks to Good Morning Scotland (BBC Radio Scotland) and Good Morning Wales (BBC Radio Wales) about his proposed policy of 'adaptive sterlingization' for an independent Scotland. Listen to Sam's interviews here and here.
The report, “Quids In: How sterlingization and free banking could help Scotland flourish”, can be read and downloaded for free here.
A new report from the Adam Smith Institute, “Quids In: How sterlingization and free banking could help Scotland flourish”, was featured in The Guardian, The Sun, The Telegraph and The Times. The report argues that an independent Scotland could have a more stable economy than the rest of the UK if adopted a policy of, what it calls, ‘adaptive sterlingization’, which combines unilateral use of the pound with financial reforms to remove government protection of established banks.
From The Guardian:
An independent Scotland that carried on using the pound without the permission of the rest of the UK would have a stronger economy than it does now, a free-market thinktank said on Thursday.
The Adam Smith Institute said the country would not only survive but thrive outside of a formal currency union provided there were changes to the banking system to inject competition and reduce risk-taking.
From The Sun:
Sir Ian Wood said Alex Salmond's SNP has over-estimated the amount of oil - and tax revenues - by up to 65 per cent.
Better Together campaign lead Alistair Darling said the news was "devastating" for Mr Salmond's plans.
It came as a think-tank claimed Scotland would "thrive" using the Pound outside a currency union.
The Adam Smith Institute said the "dollarised" economies of Latin America were proof countries can flourish when they adopt another's currency."
From The Telegraph:
Yesterday the Adam Smith Institute suggested Scotland would actually benefit from adopting sterlingisation – using the pound without a formal currency union – after independence.
The idea, which has been floated by the First Minister as a potential backup plan, would create a more stable financial system by freeing banks of certain constraints, researchers found.
From The Times:
An independent Scotland could flourish by using the pound even without the permission of the rest of the UK, according to a think-tank.
The Adam Smith Institute points to Panama as a successful example of an economy piggybacking on a neighbour’s currency — the US dollar.
It said it was neutral on Scottish independence but said the the nationalists’ plan to continue with the pound — which many regard as a stumbling block — could work very well.
The report, “Quids In: How sterlingization and free banking could help Scotland flourish”, can be read and downloaded for free here.
Research Director and author of the ASI's new report "Quids In: How sterlingization and free banking could help Scotland flourish”, Sam Bowman, writes for CityAM, detailing his proposal for 'adaptive sterlingisation':
When Scottish voters go to the polls in their independence referendum next month, they may ultimately make their decision on the basis of a single question: if we voted Yes, what currency would we use? The question has massive implications for Scotland’s economy, and since the “Plan A” of a formal currency union between Scotland and the rest of the UK was ruled out by the chancellor, doubts about “Plan B” have dominated the campaign.Alex Salmond has suggested that “Plan B” may be unilateral use of sterling without a currency union, a system known as “sterlingisation”. As I argue in a new paper for the Adam Smith Institute released today, with the right reforms to Scottish financial regulation, Plan B should be Plan A.
The “adaptive sterlingisation” plan would work like this: the Scottish government would announce no change in its use of sterling as the currency it does business in. Scottish banks currently issue their own notes that are backed on a one-to-one basis by sterling notes held at the Bank of England (million pound “Giants” and hundred-million pound “Titans”). Post-independence, they should be free to issue notes backed by their sterling reserves without restriction.
Read the rest of the op-ed here.
The report, “Quids In: How sterlingization and free banking could help Scotland flourish”, can be read and downloaded for free here.
The report argues that an independent Scotland could have a more stable economy than the rest of the UK if adopted a policy of, what it calls, ‘adaptive sterlingization’, which combines unilateral use of the pound with financial reforms to remove government protection of established banks.
