Managing the UK National Debt 1694–2018

Martin Ellison and Andrew Scott

American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, 2020, vol. 12, issue 3, 227-57

Abstract: We examine UK debt management using a new monthly dataset on the quantity and market price of every individual bond issued by the government since 1694. Our bond-by-bond dataset identifies variations in the market value of debt and so captures investors' one-period holding returns, which is the cost of debt management in the government's intertemporal budget constraint. We find a substantial cost advantage in favor of issuing short bonds, even when considering some of the operational risks implied by cash flows and gross redemptions.

JEL-codes: F34 G15 H63 N23 N24 N43 N44 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (10)

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DOI: 10.1257/mac.20180263

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