Women in politics are much in the news: First Minister Nicola Sturgeon in the UK and Chief Secretary Carrie Lam in Hong Kong.
Ms Sturgeon, of course, is the woman threatening to inflict great change on Britain, as the potential holder of the balance of power. Ms Lam is the woman threatening to inflict great lack of change on Hong Kong, through not conceding anything in her "final reform package" to HK protesters who want the right to choose their own candidates for chief executive of HK.
But women in economics are also stirring it up. Did you know a feminist financial crisis is affecting the mightiest currency of all, the US dollar? It centres on the $20 note, featuring Andrew Jackson, the seventh US President. A campaign called Women on 20s is lobbying for a female to replace Jackson, saying he's not a guy you want to spend time with, even if he is paying for dinner. He is guilty of some proper bad-boy behaviour, such as bringing in the Indian Removal Act of 1830 that drove Native American tribes off their land.
On the Women on 20s website, you can vote for Jackson's replacement. In a primary round, there were 15 contenders, ranging from activist Rosa Parks to suffragette Susan B Anthony who was, for a short period, on the one-dollar coin. It was too easily mistaken for a quarter and withdrawn from circulation due to a lack of popularity.
Now there is a final round of voting. The remaining four candidates include former first lady and activist Eleanor Roosevelt and Wilma Mankiller, former chief of the Cherokee Nation. The results will be presented to President Obama, who has the power to direct the Treasury Secretary to make the change.
Other currencies have endured a similar crisis. The most notable was sterling. Two years ago, it seemed the British pound was under threat from the Bank of England's sexist banknote blunder. Then, the decision to put Winston Churchill on the British fiver led to accusations the bank was bailing out on women. He ousted social reformer Elizabeth Fry from the list of "great Britons", meaning no women was honoured on the back of British notes. The timing was especially poor as a new €5 note had just been launched. It was part of the series named after Europa, the Phoenician woman whose image created the watermark. People wondered: was this a secret initiative from the European Central Bank, as British women might now push to join the Euro, to escaping the financial sexism of the pound? Compared to the euro, which woman would want British money, with its financial disenfranchisement?
This crisis ended only when the Bank of England unveiled a new tenner featuring Jane Austen. Women were unusually delighted to have gained 10 pounds, whilst the markets merely noted it was the first time there had ever been a cap on sterling. It was frilly.
The events involving women in economics are as intriguing than politics. Still, maybe the fact this is all happening with little media attention is no bad thing.
If British tabloids diverted their focus to "Men Crash Out of Currency Dominance" it's inevitable it would be called Pink Tuesday.
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