Today’s Solutions: September 18, 2026

It’s worth thinking about that promise to ‘pay the bearer on demand the sum of ten pounds’. When we parse it, it’s not clear what it means. Ten pounds of what? We’ve already got ten pounds. That’s exactly what we’re holding in our hand. It doesn’t mean, pay the bearer on demand ten pounds’ worth of gold: the link between currency and gold was ended in 1971, and anyway, Gordon Brown sold off the Bank of England’s gold reserves in the 1990s. The fact is, there’s no answer to the question, ten pounds of what?

Print this article
More of Today's Solutions

Berlin’s REWE supermarket: the grocery store with a working rooftop farm

BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM The lettuce in REWE's Lankwitz store in Berlin has had a short morning. Grown on the rooftop farm ...

Read More

3 Functional foods for all-day energy

You have a busy life, and now that the weather is nicer and Covid-19 restrictions are loosening up, you will likely find yourself with ...

Read More

Britain becomes the first G7 nation to end coal power

BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM Britain became the first G7 country to formally eliminate coal-fired power generation last Monday, when it closed its ...

Read More

Blood test for endometriosis brings hope for millions

BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM This year’s top Health stories celebrate the kind of progress that hits close to home: advances that help ...

Read More