Puddy Posted March 13, 2007 Share Posted March 13, 2007 Wonder if wiegie has a shot at this here in the states? Maybe the 3-dollar bill Bank of England Honors Scot Adam Smith on New Note (Update2) By Jennifer Ryan March 13 (Bloomberg) -- Adam Smith, the 18th century Scot considered to be the father of modern economics, will appear on the Bank of England's most-circulated note starting today. The new 20-pound ($39.60) bill will show a picture of Smith and an engraving of a pin factory, which he used as an example to demonstrate how the division of labor could boost productivity. His portrait will replace that of the British composer Edward Elgar, the central bank said in a statement. ``It's about time,'' Eamonn Butler, director of the Adam Smith Institute, a London-based research group which promotes Smith's teachings, said in an interview. ``Whereas people in the past had assumed that wealth meant having money, Smith established that what defines wealth is the annual produce of the nation. It's an obvious choice to put him on a U.K. bank note.'' Smith's ``An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations,'' which argued that minimal government interference in commerce would promote human welfare and alleviate poverty, was published in 1776. He is the first Scotsman to appear on the central bank's currency in England, replacing Elgar's image in the next few years on as many as 1 billion notes. Smith was born in 1723, hailing from Kirkcaldy, a Scottish town north of Edinburgh now represented in Parliament by Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown. He was a professor of moral philosophy at Glasgow University. Smith never married and lived with his mother until he died in 1790. `Particularly Appropriate' ``It's particularly appropriate that we should honor Adam Smith, one of the fathers of modern economics and moral philosophy,'' said Bank of England Chief Cashier Andrew Bailey in a statement. ``His contribution to the advancement of society continues to this day.'' The Smith note will have new security features and be the same size and about the same purple color as the Elgar notes. The improvements include more raised-print areas, a holographic strip, a see-through feature and a new watermark, the bank said. ``The reason that any central bank will issue new notes will be to try to stay ahead of the criminals that try to counterfeit them,'' said Lee Dobney, head of the notes division at the central bank, in an interview. New security features ``help you and me as cash users in the U.K. to be able to check bank notes easily and quickly.'' Smith Portrait The picture of Smith for the banknote was taken from a portrait in the Scottish National Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh, by James Tassie, Dobney said. A statue of Smith will be erected in Edinburgh this year close to that of the philosopher David Hume, one of his contemporaries, Butler said. Elgar, who died in 1934, was known for composing the Enigma Variations and the current 20-pound note includes a picture of Worcester Cathedral, where the work was first performed in full. The bill is the most common of the four denominations of 5, 10, 20 and 50, the bank said. A survey of 2,489 people by YouGov Plc found respondents carry around on average 26 pounds in cash to pay for small purchases such as a newspaper or a sandwich, Bank Machine, an operator of cash dispensers owned by Cardtronics Inc., said today. Smith has previously appeared on Scottish currency, which is issued by lenders including Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc under license from the U.K. central bank. Smith was famously absent-minded, and could occasionally be found in the midst of the countryside in his nightclothes, having wandered off from home while absorbed in an intellectual problem. ``He once put bread and butter in his teapot instead of tea,'' Butler said. ``He was a very academic sort of person, prone to getting lost in thought, and wouldn't necessarily have understood all of the fame that's gone along with his ideas.'' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wiegie Posted March 13, 2007 Share Posted March 13, 2007 Ok, implying that I am queer is one thing, but hoping I might die is something completely different. Puddy, you had just better hope that some night when I am deep in intellectual thought I don't come wandering over to the east side of state in my nightclothes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Puddy Posted March 13, 2007 Author Share Posted March 13, 2007 Ok, implying that I am queer is one thing, but hoping I might die is something completely different. Puddy, you had just better hope that some night when I am deep in intellectual thought I don't come wandering over to the east side of state in my nightclothes. Did I mention I have a futon in the basement? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wiegie Posted March 13, 2007 Share Posted March 13, 2007 Did I mention I have a futon in the basement? Did I mention that I'm not really gay? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChuckB Posted March 14, 2007 Share Posted March 14, 2007 Did I mention that I'm not really gay? What! Wiegie's not gay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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