‘Shall I jump out of the Window!’ - The Friar

Essential comic viewing from John Bird and John Fortune for understanding the sub prime crisis.

‘Money doesn’t count!’ - The Friar

Think that counting money is done the same way all over the world, well think again, counting money is done very differently depending on where you are. This video shows how counting money is done in Japan, Korea, China and Singapore, then in Afghanistan,Iran,India, Tajikistan and the Middle East, then in Russia, Mongolia, Poland and Eastern Europe, then in Turkmenistan, Kazakistan, Pakistan, and parts of Turkey, then in Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait and Egypt, then in Africa, then in America, Canada and England.

Interesting differences in the counting styles of the different countries, who would of known that there are hugh cultural differences in money counting!

‘There is a good reason for a bad credit rating’ - The Friar

And that reason is to ensure that nobody steals your identity! Clever, heh!

‘A local currency for local people’ - The Friar

The town of Lewes in East Sussex is printing it’s own currency, known as the Lewes pound. The currency is being produced by the local council in a bid to keep cash circulating in the local economy rather than losing money to the national stores and hence protecting the local economy from globalization. More than 70 stores in Lewes have signed up to accept the Lewes pound in their transactions.

The town have printed £10,000 worth of the new currency, which was an idea put forward by the Transition Town Lewes, which are a local developmental organization. The currency was printed on Royal Mint quality paper, with security features like UV fibres and watermarks.

People may think that this is a new fad, but historically it wasquiet common in 19th century Britian for towns or areas to have their own currencies, in fact Lewes previously had it’s own currency until 1895.

The Lewes pound has replaced the image of the Queen with that of Thomas Paine on it’s notes. Paine lived in Lewes and moved to the United States where he famously wrote the influential Rights of Man. The new currency can be bought for pounds sterling at outlets around Lewes, and can be exchanged back to pounds sterling at any time.