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Author Sherratt, Simon, 1972- author.

Title Credit and power : the paradox at the heart of the British national debt / Simon Sherratt
Published Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY : Routledge, 2021
©2021

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Description 1 online resource (xiii, 242 pages) : illustrations
Series Routledge studies in modern British history
Routledge studies in modern British history.
Contents Context: the financial revolution -- The bank of England and the suspension of cash payments (1797-1821) -- Government loan contracting, 1793-1810 -- The house of Rothschild -- Taxation -- Peace and its consequences, 1815-1821 -- Conclusion
Summary "This book reveals the surprising role that credit, money created ex nihilo by financiers, played in raising the British government's war loans between 1793 and 1815. Using often overlooked contemporary objections to the National Debt a startling paradox is revealed as it is shown how the government's ostensible creditors had, in fact, very little "real" money to lend and were instead often reliant for their own solvency upon the very government they were lending to. By following the careers of unsuccessful loan-contractors, who went bankrupt lending to the government, to the triumphant career of the House of Rothschild; who successfully "exported" the British system of war-financing abroad with the coming of peace, the symbiotic relationship that existed between the British government and their ostensible creditors is revealed. Also highlighted is the power granted to the (technically bankrupt) Bank of England over credit and the money supply, an unprecedented and highly influential development that filled many contemporaries with horror. This is a tale of bankruptcy, stock market manipulation, bribery and institutional corruption that continues to exert its influence today and will be of interest to anyone interested in government financing, debt and the origins of modern finance"-- Provided by publisher
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index
Notes Simon Sherratt is an economic historian interested in the National Debt, government loan-contracting, credit and "money creation."
Description based on online resource; title from digital title page (viewed on November 25, 2020)
Subject Debts, Public -- Great Britain
Great Britain -- Economic conditions -- 1760-1860
BUSINESS & ECONOMICS / Economic History
HISTORY / Modern / 19th Century
HISTORY / Europe / Great Britain
Debts, Public
Great Britain
Form Electronic book
LC no. 2020024051
ISBN 9781000214123
1000214125
9780429319396
0429319398
9781000214086
1000214087
9781000214109
1000214109