News
Iraqi Dinar Buzz Updates
Redesigning Iraq’s currency a massive job for UNCW’s Simpson
2011-02-02 01:35:48
Thomas Simpson, an economics professor at UNCW, is also an adviser to the Central Bank of Iraq. He has helped design, print and deliver more than $2 billion in dinars to replace the Saddam Hussein-era currency. Simpson holds 40,000 dinars in redesigned bills, valued at $32.15 as of Tuesday afternoon.
By Sam Scott
Staff Writer
Published: Wednesday, August 1, 2007 at 3:30 a.m.
Last Modified: Wednesday, August 1, 2007 at 6:54 a.m.
( page of 3 )
The small, windowless office on the second story of UNCW‘s Cameron Hall says “newbie professor†more than it does “global financial warrior.†But then Thomas Simpson is nothing if not unassuming.
The soft-spoken, second-year instructor brings to the University of North Carolina Wilmington a career that overshadows textbooks: three decades helping shape the nation’s monetary policy as a senior staff member at the Federal Reserve, the organization whose every word is watched by world markets.
But it’s the 64-year-old’s international experience that should make him interesting even to people who yawn at the mere mention of economics.
For the past four years, Simpson has been working to revive and sustain the Central Bank of Iraq and an economy shattered by neglect before the war and chaos after it.
Just getting rid of Saddam Hussein’s face from the currency was an undertaking that dwarfed similar efforts after World War II, said John B. Taylor, former undersecretary of Treasury for international affairs who recruited Simpson to help in Iraq.
In 2003, Simpson was instrumental in creating more than $2 billion in new dinars, the Iraqi currency. The process took months of round-the-clock printing at plants from Britain to Spain to Kenya.
What image to put on the currency was a hot topic with officials eager to avoid stirring up ill feelings, Simpson said. The final choice was to return to pre-Saddam designs, updated with harder-to-counterfeit technology, and in colors vetted for cultural sensitivities, he said.
The mountain of cash took nearly 30 Boeing 747 jets to deliver, said Simpson, who was in Iraq to see the first shipment arrive and fill a warehouse.
By Sam Scott
Staff Writer
Published: Wednesday, August 1, 2007 at 3:30 a.m.
Last Modified: Wednesday, August 1, 2007 at 6:54 a.m.
( page of 3 )
The small, windowless office on the second story of UNCW‘s Cameron Hall says “newbie professor†more than it does “global financial warrior.†But then Thomas Simpson is nothing if not unassuming.
The soft-spoken, second-year instructor brings to the University of North Carolina Wilmington a career that overshadows textbooks: three decades helping shape the nation’s monetary policy as a senior staff member at the Federal Reserve, the organization whose every word is watched by world markets.
But it’s the 64-year-old’s international experience that should make him interesting even to people who yawn at the mere mention of economics.
For the past four years, Simpson has been working to revive and sustain the Central Bank of Iraq and an economy shattered by neglect before the war and chaos after it.
Just getting rid of Saddam Hussein’s face from the currency was an undertaking that dwarfed similar efforts after World War II, said John B. Taylor, former undersecretary of Treasury for international affairs who recruited Simpson to help in Iraq.
In 2003, Simpson was instrumental in creating more than $2 billion in new dinars, the Iraqi currency. The process took months of round-the-clock printing at plants from Britain to Spain to Kenya.
What image to put on the currency was a hot topic with officials eager to avoid stirring up ill feelings, Simpson said. The final choice was to return to pre-Saddam designs, updated with harder-to-counterfeit technology, and in colors vetted for cultural sensitivities, he said.
The mountain of cash took nearly 30 Boeing 747 jets to deliver, said Simpson, who was in Iraq to see the first shipment arrive and fill a warehouse.