Over the centuries money has changed its format many times. Monetary systems have come and gone but coins and notes have always remained.
The last change I remember was going from pounds, shillings and pence to pounds and pence in 1971.
Luckily, I wasn’t in the country at the time, so it didn’t really affect me, but I do remember family members struggling with the change.
Before 1944 the monetary system was underpinned by gold. This meant that the value of our currency was determined by the size of our gold reserve, which rose and fell as trade expanded and contracted. There were also no restrictions on the movement of money, and corruption was ripe. This contributed to the start of WWII.
In 1944 a meeting between the Allies took place at Bretton Wood to discuss a new economic strategy and how to stop uncontrolled money flow. During this meeting it was decided that all currencies would be pegged against the US dollar. The decision was based on the fact that the USA owned most of the world’s gold at that time, the US was the only solvent country there but Harry Dexter-White (senior US treasury department official) refused to have anything to do with the new international currency the remaining allies wanted to bring in.
The International Monetary Fund was set up to ensure the US provided enough dollars and had enough gold reserves to maintain the value of the other countries’ currencies. All changes to currency value had to go through the International Monetary Fund.
Constraints were also put on cross border money flow, which meant that money could only move overseas in long term investments.
Q: Why is the Bretton Wood meeting significant?
A: Because the foundation for our current financial system was laid out at this meeting.
Money had taken its first steps to becoming 'fiat' money, ie money not based on a commodity.
At this stage the dollar was backed by gold, and every other currency backed by the dollar, so in a roundabout way the pound was still based on a commodity. This would all change with the creation of Moneyland and the removal of the control of money production from the banks to the government through regulations. The restrictions on overseas money movement led to the creation of Moneyland – the black-market for money where the rich get richer, politicians hide their wealth and large corporations stash their cash.
The money locked up in Moneyland is un-taxed and, mostly untraceable. Those who try to expose it are either killed or financially and/or reputationally ruined. Governments make noises but don’t really do anything to close it down or bring the perpetrators to justice. It is controlled by those more powerful than the government, kings and queens; all of whom have money and assets tied up in Moneyland.
Q: How was Moneyland created?
A: The seed was planted at the Bretton Wood meeting. It was nurtured into growth during the 50s and 60s due to the restrictions imposed on Britain by the Americans and the International Monetary Fund because of Britain and France’s attempts at regaining control of the Suez Canal. This led to back door trading with Russia, leading to the creation of Eurodollars – dollars kept and traded outside the US.
Moneyland really took off when Siegmund Warburg created the Eurobond in the 1960s, which allowed individuals and businesses to trade offshore tax free.
Since then, more and more inventive ways of moving and hiding money have been developed over the years.
The creation of tax havens, such as St Kitts, Nevis and Jersey have also helped hide the money.
Wealthy individuals and companies took advantage of Moneyland to move their wealth around and make trillions.
The Bank of England was established as a private bank in 1694 under the reign of King William III with the aim of recouping funds lost during wars.
The Bank of England was one of several banks that could print money. The Bank Charter Act of 1844 began the process of moving the printing of money solely to the Bank of England by imposing restrictions on the banks and giving the Bank of England temporary privileges.
Comments & Questions Welcome.
to be continued ..."In 1921 the Bank of England was granted the monopoly of printing money for England and Wales"
Alison Gale
POSTED ABOVE 31 MAY 2023
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