British Financial Crises since 1825

Edited by Nicholas Dimsdale and Anthony Hotson

Key reference for British financial history
Contributions from leading experts
Multidisciplinary interest
Accessible to informed public
Combines historical account and policy options

British Financial Crises since 1825

Edited by Nicholas Dimsdale and Anthony Hotson

Description

This book provides a history of British financial crises since the Napoleonic wars. Interest in crises lapsed during the generally benign financial conditions which followed the Second Word War, but the study of banking markets and financial crises has returned to centre stage following the credit crunch of 2007-8 and the subsequent Eurozone crisis.

The first two chapters provide an overview of British financial crises from the bank failures of 1825 to the credit crunch of 2007-8. The causes and consequences of individual crises are explained and recurrent features are identified. Subsequent chapters provide more detailed accounts of the railway boom-and-bust and the subsequent financial crisis of 1847, the crisis following the collapse of Overend Gurney in 1866, the dislocation of London's money market at the outset of the Great War in 1914 and the crisis in 1931 when sterling left the gold standard. Other chapters consider the role of regulation, banks' capital structures, and the separation of different types of banking activity.

The book examines the role of the Bank of England as lender of last resort and the successes and failures of crisis management. The scope for reducing the risk of future systemic crises is assessed. The book will be of interest to students, market practitioners, policymakers and general readers interested in the debate over banking reform.

British Financial Crises since 1825

Edited by Nicholas Dimsdale and Anthony Hotson

Foreword, David Harding
1. Introduction, Nicholas Dimsdale and Anthony Hotson
2. British Financial Crises in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, Forrest Capie
3. Financial Crises and Economic Activity in the UK since 1825, Nicholas Dimsdale and Anthony Hotson
4. Government Policy during the British Railway Mania and the 1847 Commercial Crisis, Gareth Campbell
5. The Crisis of 1866, Marc Flandreau and Stefano Ugolini
6. 'How We Saved the City': The Management of the Financial Crisis of 1914, Richard Roberts
7. The Financial Crisis of 1931 and the Impact of the Great Depression on the British Economy, Nicholas Dimsdale and Nicholas Horsewood
8. Holding Shareholders to Account: British Banking Stability and Contingent Capital, John Turner
9. Narrow Banking, Real Estate, and Financial Stability in the UK, c. 1870-2010, Avner Offer
10. Do Financial Crises Lead to Policy Change?, Youssef Cassis

British Financial Crises since 1825

Edited by Nicholas Dimsdale and Anthony Hotson

Author Information

Nicholas Dimsdale, Emeritus Fellow in Economics at Queen's College, University of Oxford, and an Associate Fellow of Nuffield College, University of Oxford,Anthony Hotson, Research Associate, Centre for Financial History, University of Cambridge, and member of Wolfson College, University of Oxford

Nicholas Dimsdale is Emeritus Fellow in Economics at Queen's College Oxford and an Associate Fellow of Nuffield College, having retired as Fellow and University Lecturer in Economics. His interests are in monetary economics, macroeconomic history and financial history. His papers have been published in leading journals and he has edited several books. For many years he was an Editor of Oxford Economic Papers and is a member of its Editorial Board. He has been an active member of the Winton Institute for Monetary History and has collaborated closely with Anthony Hotson, including the editing of this volume.

Anthony Hotson is a Research Associate at the Centre for Financial History, Cambridge, and a member of Wolfson College, Oxford. He worked at the Bank of England in the 1980s and subsequently as a market practitioner. More recently he has been a Research Fellow at the Winton Institute for Monetary History in Oxford and has collaborated closely with Nicholas Dimsdale, including the editing of this volume. Dr Hotson teaches financial history and is co-editor of a book to be published this year on the Thatcher Government and the 1981 Budget. He is a non-executive director of Cenkos Securities plc.

Contributors:

Gareth Campbell, Queen's University
Forrest Capie, CASS Business School, City University
Youssef Cassis, European University Institute
Nicholas Dimsdale, University of Oxford
Marc Flandreau, Institute de Hautes Etudes
Nicholas Horsewood, University of Birmingham
Anthony Hotson, University of Cambridge and University of Oxford
Avner Offer, University of Oxford
Richard Roberts, King's College London
John Turner, Queen's University
Stefano Ugolini, University of Toulouse 1