Fungibility Quotes
Although this has been well known for centuries. Nonetheless, many nations have attempted it over the years with none being successful.
In America and Canada, corporations, at their discretion, may leave a state/province or the country, and take their money, machines, and key people with them. The state and country lose the benefit of the employment the corporation enabled, the talent and productivity of the people who leave, and the business done by other companies in supporting the corporation. As a result corporations can not only lobby for whatever legislative outcome they want, and can give unlimited campaign contributions, but they can simply threaten to move to another state of offshore if they do not get their way. In many other nations, the corporations cannot move without permission and their assets can be frozen. Currency controls could prevent them from taking their money and running. The Freedom of the United States and Canada is well worth the risk of corporations dictating policy to government, but that is a very undesirable and undemocratic problem that must be faced in other ways
“Laid up” means “saved”. “Commutable”means fungible—gold and silver can buy anything else.
Muir had spoken at the Convention of Scottish Friends of the People at Edinburgh in 1792. He had advocated election reform allowing all men to vote, not just property owners and was sentenced by Braxfield to the Australian penal colony at Botany Bay. Braxfield expressed the deep distrust the establishment felt even for merchants, traders and others with fungible assets.
