North Sea tax revenues plummet to negative for the first time in sector's history

[MrMarkyMark]

So you don't consider El Salvador or Ecuador independent countries? They both use the US dollar and have no agreements in place with the United States around currency use that I'm aware of.
Heck Zimbabwe dumped its own currency and uses a mix of foreign ones - pretty sure they aren't printing rand or Aussie dollars or wharever.

All of your examples have, or have had, their own currencies, also, Scotland does not.

I don't believe they need any agreements with the US, they usually just say the home currency is worth this amount of dollar. In Mexico, you can use pesos or dollars, too.

Looks like El Savador do have an agreement, although they have got rid of their currency completely:-

Notice: As of 2001, the Law of Monetary Integration allows the circulation of the US dollar (USD) in Salvador with a fixed exchange rate of 8.75 colones.

[seanraaron]

Perhaps, but Scotland will end up with pounds in the divorce and they can request pounds in exchange for services and then keep a steady flow to back up whatever people use on the street if the supply of notes drops sufficiently to demand the issuance of a domestic coin, as I believe is the case in Ecuador.

Ultimately though the point is, the only people it really matters to are the people of Scotland. If rest of UK doesn't want to make a monetary union of the pound, whatever.

[WTFH]

So you don't consider El Salvador or Ecuador independent countries? They both use the US dollar and have no agreements in place with the United States around currency use that I'm aware of.

Heck Zimbabwe dumped its own currency and uses a mix of foreign ones - pretty sure they aren't printing rand or Aussie dollars or wharever.

And there's a stack of little countries outside the eurozone using the euro. I think Montenegro is the biggest of the lot.

Just to be clear, I'm not making a value judgment here. I'm just saying the rest of the UK couldn't do anything to stop Scotland using the pound if we really really wanted to post-independence.

If you use a foreign currency as your ONLY currency, you are tied to it. As that currency fluctuates outside of your control, then you have to cope with that.
It works with "little countries" who don't rely on financial trading to make money.


Put it another way, if Scotland had bought £100 of US dollars at $2 to £1, they would have $200. Today (because the £ is weak), the £100 would only get them $154. So they would be paying MORE for the product they purchased in the US, and there is nothing they can do to change that, because £ is the UK currency.
If the Scottish economy were to grow, they would hit a problem - they can only grow (or shrink) at the same rate as their base currency. The growth is tied to the UK. That means they aren't independent.

[WTFH]

Perhaps, but Scotland will end up with pounds in the divorce .

Who says so? In a "divorce" the sides meet and reach an agreement.

Ultimately though the point is, the only people it really matters to are the people of Scotland. If rest of UK doesn't want to make a monetary union of the pound, whatever.

What an arrogant and stupid way to think.


If Scotland wants independence, it is either independent or it is not. Sharing the UK's currency with the UK means it would not be independent, whatever.

[seanraaron]

If the Scottish economy were to grow, they would hit a problem - they can only grow (or shrink) at the same rate as their base currency. The growth is tied to the UK. That means they aren't independent.

No, I get that, but it's kind of a quibble. The country would still be independent politically, but they'd have less control over aspects of fiscal policy. Of course you can make the same argument about the countries of the eurozone or indeed the member states of the USA.

Having lived in California when the housing market was spiralling out of control in the 90s and a rate increase was really warranted to stop it, I can tell you that bigger countries with a single currency aren't one-size-fits-all either. In fact even staying in the UK you might find having the rates controlled by the Bank of England doesn't necessarily benefit people in Scotland either, and we arguably have as much control over that as we would outside of the U.K.

[seanraaron]

What an arrogant and stupid way to think.

Unlike the English who openly think of Scotland as a big welfare case? Take a look in your own back garden before you throw rocks, honey.

[MrMarkyMark]

Unlike the English who openly think of Scotland as a big welfare case?

Currently, as things stand, it is unfortunately.
Each body gets around £1300 more, tax spend, than someone in the UK.

That's why you hear people moaning.

No, I get that, but it's kind of a quibble. The country would still be independent politically, but they'd have less control over aspects of fiscal policy.

Done that way it would surely fail.
To be truly independent they need control of both, or they need to sign up to the Euro.

[WTFH]

Unlike the English who openly think of Scotland as a big welfare case? Take a look in your own back garden before you throw rocks, honey.

I'm not English.


And I don't think of Scotland as a big welfare case (apart from the Barnett Formula)

[seanraaron]

I'm not English.


And I don't think of Scotland as a big welfare case (apart from the Barnett Formula)

I know, I've paid attention to your posts, but face it Wales and England have been joined at the hip forever and that's unlikely to change without a seismic event of some kind.

My point was that Scotland makes a contribution to the Union and if that contribution isn't recognised or worse, derided, then there's no surprise that people north of the border won't place any value on it (the Union) regardless of something as small as monetary policy. Telling people something as petty and childish as "if you leave, you can't have our paper!" is hardly going to matter.

[WTFH]

I know, I've paid attention to your posts, but face it Wales and England have been joined at the hip forever and that's unlikely to change without a seismic event of some kind.

Every day that I wake up, I thank the lord that I'm NOT Welsh.