The Bank of England and the Government Debt recounts the surprising history of the Bank of England's activities in the government securities market in the mid-twentieth century. The Bank's governor, Montagu Norman, had a decisive influence on government debt management policy until he retired in...

Perhaps the greatest strength of the book is its account of the political environment in which the Bank of England operated: in particular it conveys very clearly the attitudes of Margaret Thatcher, her successive Chancellors of the Exchequer, Geoffrey Howe and Nigel Lawson, and their officials...

"Government securities are an essential piece of equipment for an effective state. They enable governments to borrow to finance expenditures which they cannot mmediately pay for out of taxation or accumulated savings. In the past, such xpenditures were often for the conduct of wars. Britain was...