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Baring, Wellington and the resurrection of French public finances following Waterloo

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  • Kim Oosterlinck
  • Loredana Ureche-Rangau
  • Jacques-Marie Vaslin

Abstract

Following Waterloo, managing French public finances represented a daunting task as the country had lost a substantial part of its population and territory and had to pay huge amounts as reparations to the victors. Despite this, in just ten years, France managed to issue substantial amounts of debt with a spread, compared to the British consol, falling from more than 400 to 100 basis points. We argue that the Duke of Wellington was key in creating an environment in which Baring had an incentive to lend to France and all actors had an incentive to see French debts reimbursed.

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  • Kim Oosterlinck & Loredana Ureche-Rangau & Jacques-Marie Vaslin, 2014. "Baring, Wellington and the resurrection of French public finances following Waterloo," Post-Print CEB, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles, vol. 74(4), pages 1072-1102, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:sol:spaper:2013/205539
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    Cited by:

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    3. Mitchener, Kris & Trebesch, Christoph, 2021. "Sovereign Debt in the 21st Century: Looking Backward, Looking Forward," CEPR Discussion Papers 15935, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    4. Flandreau, Marc, 2017. "Reputation, Regulation and the Collapse of International Capital Markets, 1920-1935," CEPR Discussion Papers 11747, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.

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