Scotsman to appear on English £20 note for first time

Blackleaf · Scotsman to appear on English £20 note for first time

First Scottish face on new £20.

New look ... Adam Smith, the father of free trade, will be on the new English £20 note

Not only are the MAJORITY of the members of the British Cabinet in the Government are Scots and Scots, undemocratically, have a say in all political matters in England whereas there are certain political matters in Scotland that the English can have NO say on (in effect, Scotland rules England), but now Scots are even appearing on ENGLISH paper money

First Scot face on new £20 note

A NEW £20 note will be introduced early next year — and for the first time it features a SCOT.

Economist Adam Smith’s face will be used with an image of pin manufacturing.

Just three other faces have appeared on the notes: William Shakespeare, from 1970 to 1993; scientist Michael Faraday, from 1991 to 2001 and since June 1999 English composer Sir Edward Elgar.

Smith, who died aged 67 in 1790, wrote a famous article about how pin production can be increased if workers specialise within a team.

His economic ideas also helped Britain to become the world's foremost economic power in the 1800s.
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The TimesOctober 30, 2006

This pin factory illustration will be on the new English £20 note

The new notes will feature Adam Smith and the pin factory (above) he used to illustrate the benifits of the division of labour in his seminal work, which is revered by businessmen such as Bill Gates (Bank of England/PA)

£20 reward for the father of free trade

By Gabriel Rozenberg, Economics Reporter

HE WAS awkward, absent-minded and had no head for business, according to his obituary in The Times. But today Adam Smith will have his reputation fixed as the father of modern economics as he becomes the latest historical figure to appear on the £20 note.

Smith, who died in 1790, having lived out his days as a quiet Customs official with his mother, will become the first Scotsman to appear on a Bank of England note when he replaces Edward Elgar next spring.

He was the author of The Wealth of Nations, which made the case for free markets and free trade against the mercantilist philosophy of the 18th century, and which argued that individual self-interest would promote the common good “led by an invisible hand”. His principles became the cornerstone of Britain’s 19th-century industrial might.

English composer Sir Edward Elgar is currently on the back of the £20 note

He is revered by Baroness Thatcher, and has also been championed by Gordon Brown, who argues that Smith stood for supporting the most vulnerable in society

The Chancellor is proud of having been born in the same town, Kirkcaldy, as the economist (however, Brown loves taxes and tries to find new ways to tax us whereas Adam Smith HATED taxation).

The honouring of Smith was announced last night by Mervyn King, the Governor of the Bank of England.

Giving the annual Adam Smith Lecture in Kirkcaldy, Mr King said: “It is a sign of the resurgence of interest in Adam Smith that at almost every point on the political spectrum one can find people who claim Smith as their own.”

He praised Smith’s writing as remarkable for its “comprehensive and eclectic examination of ideas and facts”, and said that he had influenced the way the world thinks about the route to economic prosperity.

There are more than a billion £20 notes in circulation, according to the Bank. The notes have an average lifespan of about two years.

The new note will also carry a picture of the pin factory used by Smith to illustrate his observations and theories in The Wealth of Nations.

At a time when manufacturing was in its infancy, Smith was the first to recognise the productivity gains from dividing of labour into specialised tasks. Next to the picture will be the quotation, “and the great increase in the quantity of work that results”. Mr King said: “From next spring, when visitors to our country look carefully at their new £20 notes . . . I hope they will absorb the lesson that specialisation in production and trade across the world are the way to improve living standards in all countries. And perhaps when they return home they will press their own politicians to support the opening up of trade, which has been at the heart of the British Government’s efforts to reform the world economy.”

Economists expressed their delight. Eamonn Butler, director of the Adam Smith Institute, a think-tank, said: “Smith is the father of modern economics. He was for free markets, deregulation, low taxes and individual freedom.” The institute is building a £250,000 life-size bronze statue of Smith, which it hopes to place on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh next year.

WHO WAS ADAM SMITH?

The economist and philosopher was a leading figure of the Scottish Intellectual Enlightenment

After studying at Glasgow and Balliol College, Oxford, he wrote The Theory of Moral Sentiments (1769) and The Wealth of Nations (1776)

He championed free trade and pioneered the modern market economy

He was born in Fife, briefly kidnapped by gypsies at 4, and lived and died in Edinburgh

When Warren Buffett, the world’s second richest man, gave Bill Gates’s charitable foundation $31billion (£16billion), Gates gave him his personal copy of The Wealth of Nations “It is not from the benevolence of the butcher the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest. We address ourselves, not to their humanity, but to their self-love, and never talk to them of our own necessities, but of their advantages” — Chapter 2, The Wealth of Nations

thetimesonline.co.uk

Corby Boy

Scotland's ruled England since the coronation of James VI and I. Nothing new there my friend!

Barny Rubble

billalba

Who cares what appears on an English bank note...Barny as you know, your views are better placed and respected on the Crossofstgeorge website...

Barny Rubble

Corby Boy

It is true Barmy many Scots do claim benefits and that the spending is higher in Scotland due to Barnett. But it is also true that Barnett was a sop to quieten the Scots when North Sea oil was discovered, because Westminster knew that the revenues coming out of the North Sea in the Scottish sector would far outweigh any investment that goes north from Westminster at the time or since. Just look at Norway. You know you can't win the economic argument, you're just a typical superiorist Englishman on that score.

As far national pride, maybe some Scots aren't that proud re: hardcore Rangers fans, however, vastly more are and the millions who count themselves as part of the Scottish diaspora as proud of Scotland's achievement, of which there are countless.

I pretty much see the same reflections in England amongst the English. Bottom line pal, England has had its own ruling class since the plantagents the last of which died at Bosworth field in 1485! May be that makes the CoSG mob behave the way they do, becasue they feel downtrodden.

Corby Boy

Should read England has NOT had its own ruling class since the plantagenents...!

Barny Rubble

As far national pride, maybe some Scots aren't that proud re: hardcore Rangers fans, however, vastly more are and the millions who count themselves as part of the Scottish Diaspora as proud of Scotland's achievement, of which there are countless.

Pleased you metioned the said "Diaspora " with Scotland having a population of just over 5 million...doesn't this say something about Scotland like " rats leaving a sinking ship" (no pun intended Corbs). The SNP's manifesto says," that they will welcome immigrants with open arms" yes, I can understand that they need them!

Corby Boy

Yet more vitriol Barm. England is no great shape, a product of governmental mismanagement Tory and labour. Obese, ASBO mad, bankruptcy rising amongst the populace, Muslim bashing, suspicion of all who may be slightly different, paranoid of devolution and the effect on the centre need I go on.

The diaspora I refer to is Scotland's greatest ever achievement shaping the world we know today, many countries owe a debt of gratitude to the contribution made great or small. Something, the insular minded like yourself will find hard to grasp.

If the country is being mismanaged and discouraging investment, then it is something independence will put right when total control on such matters will be regained.

Corby Boy

Footnote, I will not stoop to the veiled name calling and insults that you favour old boy it is not becoming.

Highlander

Corby Boy

The Scots have been a force for good in the world, not just parts of a shameful expansionist Empire.

Individual missionaries, scientists, medics and the like. The setting up of democracy's, the principles of which are taken from Declaration of Arbroath etc...

Not everyone has been part of the British thing. many were driven from their homes in the first place by the British establishment and helped shape the future of their new homes.

As the world is in such a poor state now in your opinion, that is of course the fault of the Scottish diaspora?

Don't be so polarised in your view.

Barny Rubble

Corby Boy

How do you work that out? I am waiting for a constructive counter argument, something that you don't seem to be able to do. Please feel free to prove me wrong.

(I don't appreciate being likened to a rat when you have never met me hence my 'vitriol' post, nothing to do with losing debates).

Barny Rubble

//I don't appreciate being likened to a rat//
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