We identify similarities and differences in the scale and nature of the banking crises in 2008-2009 and the Great Depression, and analyse differences in the policy response to the two crises in light of the prevailing international monetary systems. We find that the scale of the banking crisis,...

With economic activity severely disrupted by the coronavirus crisis, many governments have been supporting peoples' incomes and keeping businesses alive by means of income support programmes financed by borrowing. This paper describes how the borrowing is being done in the United States and the...

In the context of the widespread adoption of flexible exchange rates, the purposes of this paper are, first, to go over the well-tilled ground of the principles of balance-of-payments adjustment, trying to interpret these principles in ways relevant to current conditions, and second to discuss...

The British monetary authorities tried to encourage lower long-term interest rates through their government debt management operations between 1962 and 1964, consistent with a recommendation of the Radcliffe report. The implementation of the policy was complicated by the need for the Bank of...

The financial crisis that began in August 2007 has blurred the sharp distinction between monetary and financial stability. It has also led to a revival of practical central bank co-operation. This paper explains how things have changed. The main innovation in central bank cooperation during this...

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...