The nature of money

The best currencies are based on a strong democracy, strong institutions and a firm attachment to both the rule of law and the protection of private property, says Merryn Somerset Webb.

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America, at 243, is an older democracy than many European countries
(Image credit: Credit: Universal Art Archive / Alamy Stock Photo)

I may have mentioned this here before, but one of the things that often surprises me about America's view of itself is the idea that it is a relatively new nation when it really isn't.

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Merryn Somerset Webb

Merryn Somerset Webb started her career in Tokyo at public broadcaster NHK before becoming a Japanese equity broker at what was then Warburgs. She went on to work at SBC and UBS without moving from her desk in Kamiyacho (it was the age of mergers).

After five years in Japan she returned to work in the UK at Paribas. This soon became BNP Paribas. Again, no desk move was required. On leaving the City, Merryn helped The Week magazine with its City pages before becoming the launch editor of MoneyWeek in 2000 and taking on columns first in the Sunday Times and then in 2009 in the Financial Times

Twenty years on, MoneyWeek is the best-selling financial magazine in the UK. Merryn was its Editor in Chief until 2022. She is now a senior columnist at Bloomberg and host of the Merryn Talks Money podcast -  but still writes for Moneyweek monthly. 

Merryn is also is a non executive director of two investment trusts – BlackRock Throgmorton, and the Murray Income Investment Trust.