[Sussex] Well done Gareth / .NET

[Mark Harrison]

Ahah...

> Now one could say that if gold was to become common place then the price
> of gold would fall.  That is why the leaf has not be accepted as a major
> currency since the days of the Golgafrinchams.

Generically, that's true. However, tobacco leaf is documented as having come
into common use as currency in Virginia in 1619. In 1642, it was made legal
tender by the General Assembley of the colony, by a rather cunning legal ruse -
the law in question outlawed any contracts that called for payment specifcally
in gold or silver. It was only dropped two centuries later, when the US
Constitution determined that legal tender was solely the domain of Federal
Government (who felt that the Gold Standard was a good thing.)

One could also argue that it came back in Germany between 1946 and 1948 - but
the unit of exchange following the devaluation of the Reichsmark was actually
the cigarette rather than raw leaf. (The introduction of the Deutschmark in 1948
put pay to that.)

Mark, who had to look up the detail, but has actually read John Kenneth
Galbraith :-)

----- Original Message -----
From: "Steve Dobson" <steve.dobson at krasnegar.demon.co.uk>
To: <sussex at mailman.lug.org.uk>
Sent: Tuesday, March 25, 2003 8:02 PM
Subject: Re: [Sussex] Well done Gareth / .NET


> Nik
>
> On Tue, Mar 25, 2003 at 09:03:21AM +0000, Nik Butler wrote:
> > > 2) Bill Gates is like king Midas.  Hmmm, Bill is very
> > > good at making money for himself and Microsoft,
> > Hmmm okay I was fishing for other Fables and thats no a bad comparison.
> > See Midas turned every thing he touched to gold. Which was great for the
> > kingdom but lousy for his personal benefit. See he could not eat, love
> > or hold anything without it becoming gold. He became a very sad and
> > lonely and hungry king. If MS is like midas then everything it touches
> > soon becomes valuable but pointless.
>
> Now one could say that if gold was to become common place then the price
> of gold would fall.  That is why the leaf has not be accepted as a major
> currency since the days of the Golgafrinchams.
>
> Steve
>
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