Bitcoins: Can It Challenge The Mighty Dollar?

By W.A. Wijewardena -April 29, 2013 

Dr. W.A. Wijewardena

Should currency issue be a state monopoly? Not necessarily as evidenced in ancient India and Lanka and new evidence emerging in USA and other Western countries in the form of a new digital coin labelled ‘bitcoins’ or BTC for short.

Currency issue need not be a state monopoly

In the ancient Indian economy some 2,400 years ago, as described byKautilya in his textbook on economics, The Arthashastra, issuing coins for exchange was not an exclusive monopoly of the king. The private people were also in the business of issuing coins and what the king did was to ensure their quality and standards through a public official designated the Examiner of Coins.

This ancient Indian coinage practice would have been common in this part of the world since a large number of coins found in the Southern Kingdom of Ruhuna of Lanka belonging to the period from 3rd century BCE to 1st century CE carried the Brahmi inscriptions of private issuers, among many, like “Of Gutta”, “Of Pussa, Son of Householder Dutaka”, “Of Lady Sama”, “Of Municipal Officer Nakati” or “Of Lady Uttama, Householder” and so on.

Private issuers are disciplined by the market   

Thus, the evidence demonstrates that the issue of coins was not a monopoly of the king, had not been centralised as it is today and the value and the standards had been maintained through mutual acceptance supported by governmental supervision.

This would not have been a problem in ancient times because coins had an intrinsic metal value and any private party issuing coins had to meet the prescribed standards set by the market place. Any issuer who had failed to do so would have been driven out of the market.

Paper money based on trust                               Read More

600 TUs poised to strike

By Gagani Weerakoon-2013-04-29  More than 600 trade unions representing public and private sector employees and estate workers, yesterday gave a 20 May ultimatum to President Mahinda Rajapaksa demanding he cancel or revise the electricity tariff hike, and threatened a countrywide strike on 21 May, if he ignored their demand. In a letter addressed to President Rajapaksa, the Co-ordinating Committee for Trade Union Alliance, representing key trade unions in the country, while noting that 95% of the electricity consumers are the common public who consume below 200 units, pointed out that the recent 60% increase in electricity tariff is the highest ever in history. "We consider this as a completely unfair deal directed at the general public, and as representatives of the working community, we express our strong resentment towards the move. If you and the government fail to revise or completely annul the tariff hike by 20 May, we will be compelled to resort to tough trade union action starting with a countrywide full-day token strike on 21 May,” the trade union leader vowed in the communiqué to the President. They have also noted that the President and the government would have to take the responsibility of the breach of industrial peace in the event of a strike.  “The government for the first time had to accept defeat when the working community protested against the proposed private sector pension scheme in 2011, and the government can perhaps taste its second defeat before the working class on 21 May. If the President is a friend of the working community as he always claimed to be, we challenge him to announce on May Day that the electricity bill will be reduced by a remarkable amount,” said National Trade Union Centre President K.D. Lal Kantha at a media briefing held in Colombo, where candles were lit instead of electric bulbs in protest of the electricity tariff. The Federation of University Teachers’ Alliance (FUTA), National Trade Union Centre (NTUC), Jathika Sevaka Sangamaya (JSS), All Ceylon Trade Union Federation (ACTUF), Free Trade Zones General Employees’ Union, Lanka Estate Workers’ Union, Lanka Teachers’ Services Union, Lanka United Estate Workers’ Union, Public Sector United Trade Union Federation, United Labour Federation, All Ceylon Estate Workers’ Union and Inter Company Employees’ Union (ICEU).

2013-04-29