News about Adam Smith

PATRICK MARMION: Hardship has never appeared so easily borne at the National Theatre this week, where a handful of plays play off the rigours of discrimination, poverty, and displacement. Pearl Cleage's enchanting Blues For An Alabama Sky, a tribute to Harlem's musical and cultural revival during the 1930s' Great Depression. The other is The Boy With Two Hearts, an oddly saccharine saga of an Afghan family fleeing the Taliban and seeking to assist their eldest son's heart disease in the United Kingdom.

Notes paper £50 and £20 (lower right) will no longer be used as legal tender from today, sparking a scramble to exchange them at the Bank of England (left). Only the plastic versions of the currency change will be accepted in supermarkets from Saturday to date. Despite the fact that the paper ones will be able to be exchanged at the bank for years to come, the day has nevertheless sparked a scramble to sell them (9top right).

After customers were told that tomorrow would be the last day they will be able to use paper £20 and £50 notes, the Post Office is bracing for a 'last moment' rush. As they lose their legal tender status after September 30, the Bank of England paper notes will effectively become worthless in shops or when paying employees. The paper's £20 banknotes, as well as the £50 note that shows entrepreneur Matthew Bolton and engineer James Watt, have been gradually removed from circulation. They have been replaced with polymer versions of both the £20 and £50 notes as the paper notes were returned to the Bank of England.

The paper notes will effectively become worthless in shops after September 30, so anyone hoping to invest the money before it goes out of circulation will have to use it soon. Since being introduced in February 2020, the replacement £20 and £50 notes, which are made from polymer, have been in circulation for more than two years. The old notes with Adam Smith on the £20 notes and £50 notes with pictures of Matthew Boulton and James Watt will not be available as of next week.