The British Government and the City of London in the Twentieth Century

Cover......Page 1
Half-title......Page 3
Title......Page 5
Copyright......Page 6
Contents......Page 7
Notes on contributors......Page 9
Acknowledgements......Page 12
Conventions and abbreviations......Page 13
Introduction......Page 15
Part I The long perspective......Page 17
1 The City of London and government in modern Britain: debates and politics......Page 19
Debates......Page 20
‘The City’......Page 25
The Bank of England......Page 28
The Treasury......Page 31
Government and policy......Page 34
The politics of political economy......Page 38
The origins of the relationship, 1700–1914......Page 45
A relationship in flux, 1914–1939......Page 48
The era of government ascendancy, 1939–1979......Page 53
The end of the affair: City and government since 1979......Page 63
Conclusion......Page 68
Part II Markets and society......Page 71
Perspective on the twentieth century......Page 73
The case for markets......Page 75
Market failure in general......Page 79
Market failure in the financial sector......Page 81
Illustrations......Page 83
Conclusion......Page 88
4 Financial elites revisited......Page 90
The origins of intercorporate analysis......Page 91
The historical approach......Page 95
The changing nature of financial elites......Page 99
Financial elites in European comparative perspective......Page 105
Socio-political structure and political influence......Page 107
Popular capitalism......Page 110
Share ownership and party politics......Page 113
Investment, saving and the working class......Page 116
Share ownership and the broader policy context......Page 122
Conclusion......Page 126
Part III Government and political parties......Page 129
6 The Treasury and the City......Page 131
Edwardian political economy......Page 135
War finance, 1914–1920......Page 136
Interwar financial policy......Page 138
War finance, 1937–1945......Page 141
Postwar domestic monetary policy......Page 143
Postwar international monetary policy......Page 146
Mutual interdependence......Page 148
7 The Liberals and the City 1900–1931......Page 149
‘The City’ and the ‘people’, 1905–1914......Page 151
The First World War, the City and Liberal political economy, 1914–1931......Page 159
8 The Conservatives and the City......Page 167
The Edwardian tariff debate: the rhetoric of producers versus rentiers......Page 168
The interwar years: a deepening concern?......Page 170
The postwar decades: a brave new world but with old concerns......Page 180
Embracing the City in the Thatcherite era......Page 185
9 Labour party and the City 1945–1970......Page 188
Who is in charge?......Page 190
‘Decline’, sterling, Labour and the City......Page 196
The City and domestic investment......Page 204
Conclusions......Page 205
Part IV The interwar period......Page 207
10 Moral suasion, empire borrowers and the new issue market during the 1920s......Page 209
Empire borrowing and imperial preference during the 1920s......Page 210
Loan queue to embargo, 1920–1925......Page 213
Moral suasion, 1925–1929......Page 219
Conclusion......Page 225
11 Government–City of London relations under the gold standard 1925–1931......Page 229
Restoration and reaction......Page 231
Labour, the slump and the sterling crisis......Page 244
12 The City, British policy and the rise of the Third Reich 1931–1937......Page 250
Britain’s financial crisis and the ‘German question’......Page 252
Bonds and bondholders......Page 259
The City and the coming of war......Page 266
Part V 1945–2000......Page 269
13 Keynesianism, sterling convertibility, and British reconstruction 1940–1952......Page 271
Keynes and British reconstruction within an international context......Page 272
Sterling inconvertibility, 1947–1951......Page 279
The Robot war......Page 283
Compromise......Page 286
14 ‘Mind the gap’: politics and finance since 1950......Page 290
Sources of funds......Page 292
Uses of funds......Page 294
Investment and finance......Page 296
Institutional dominance......Page 304
Institutional activism......Page 307
Some microeconomic issues......Page 308
Reflections......Page 310
15 Domestic monetary policy and the banking system in Britain 1945–1971......Page 312
Chronology of monetary policy and restrictions......Page 315
Effectiveness of policy......Page 321
The impact on the banking system......Page 325
Conclusion......Page 334
Calculation of rates of return on deposits and advances......Page 335
16 The new City and the state in the 1960s......Page 336
Changes in the City......Page 337
The decline of sterling and European integration......Page 340
The Eurodollar market......Page 344
The debate over capital controls......Page 348
Conclusions......Page 351
17 The Bank of England 1970–2000......Page 354
(a) The gilt market......Page 373
(b) The money market......Page 376
(c) Other domestic financial markets and market mechanisms......Page 379
(a) The foreign exchange market......Page 380
(b) International policies and diplomacy......Page 382
The future?......Page 384
Select bibliography......Page 386
Index......Page 391