I want to talk today about whether we need ‘public money’. I should make clear that I am not talking here about public spending but rather about the form of money itself: by ‘public money’ I mean money issued by the state to its citizens for everyday use. Money in the UK today This may seem a rather odd question. In the UK, the Bank of England – a public institution1 – has been issuing money to the public for over 300 years. Its banknotes, carrying the famous “I promise to pay the bearer” pledge are carried in millions of wallets and purses and used millions of times every day by the public to make transactions2 . ... (full story)