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Danger to the old lady of Threadneedle Street? The Bank Restriction Act and the regime shift to paper money, 1797-1821

Author

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  • Nuno Palma

    (University of Groningen)

  • Patrick O’Brien

    (London School of Economics)

Abstract

"The Bank Restriction Act of 1797 suspended the convertibility of the Bank of England's notes into gold. The current historical consensus is that the suspension was a result of the state's need to finance the war, France’s remonetization, a loss of confidence in the English country banks, and a run on the Bank of England’s reserves following a landing of French troops in Wales. We argue that while these factors help us understand the timing of the Restriction period, they cannot explain its success. We deploy new long-term data which leads us to a complementary explanation: the policy succeeded thanks to the reputation of the Bank of England, achieved through a century of prudential collaboration between the Bank and the Treasury."

Suggested Citation

  • Nuno Palma & Patrick O’Brien, 2017. "Danger to the old lady of Threadneedle Street? The Bank Restriction Act and the regime shift to paper money, 1797-1821," Working Papers 17001, Economic History Society.
    • Handle: RePEc:ehs:wpaper:17001
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Newby, Elisa, 2012. "The suspension of the gold standard as sustainable monetary policy," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 36(10), pages 1498-1519.
    2. Eichengreen, Barry, 1996. "Golden Fetters: The Gold Standard and the Great Depression, 1919-1939," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780195101133.
    3. François R. Velde & Warren E. Weber & Randall Wright, 1999. "A Model of Commodity Money, with Applications to Gresham's Law and the Debasement Puzzle," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 2(1), pages 291-323, January.
    4. Sims, Christopher A, 1994. "A Simple Model for Study of the Determination of the Price Level and the Interaction of Monetary and Fiscal Policy," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 4(3), pages 381-399.
    5. Broadberry,Stephen & Campbell,Bruce M. S. & Klein,Alexander & Overton,Mark & van Leeuwen,Bas, 2015. "British Economic Growth, 1270–1870," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781107070783, April.
    6. Angela Redish, 1993. "Anchors Aweigh: The Transition from Commodity Money to Fiat Money in Western Economies," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 26(4), pages 777-795, November.
    7. Neal, Larry, 2000. "How it all began: the monetary and financial architecture of Europe during the first global capital markets, 1648 1815," Financial History Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 7(02), pages 117-140, October.
    8. L. D. Schwarz, 1985. "The Standard of Living in the Long Run: London, 1700–1860," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 38(1), pages 24-36, February.
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    1. repec:bla:ehsrev:v:71:y:2018:i:2:p:373-392 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. repec:taf:bushst:v:59:y:2017:i:5:p:814-820 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Irigoin, Alejandra, 2018. "Global silver: bullion or specie? Supply and demand in the making of the early modern global economy," Economic History Working Papers 90190, London School of Economics and Political Science, Department of Economic History.
    4. Mike Anson & David Bholat Author-Name-First: David & Miao Kang & Ryland Thomas, 2017. "The Bank of England as Lender of Last Resort: New historical evidence from daily transactional data," Working Papers 0117, European Historical Economics Society (EHES).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Bank of England; financial revolution; fiat money; money supply; monetary policy commitment; reputation; and time-consistency; regime shift; financial sector growth;

    JEL classification:

    • N13 - Economic History - - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics; Industrial Structure; Growth; Fluctuations - - - Europe: Pre-1913
    • N23 - Economic History - - Financial Markets and Institutions - - - Europe: Pre-1913
    • N43 - Economic History - - Government, War, Law, International Relations, and Regulation - - - Europe: Pre-1913

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