Coordinating monetary and fiscal policies in Britain during the French Wars (1793–1821)

Pamfili Antipa and Christophe Chamley
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Pamfili Antipa: Banque de France - Banque de France - Banque de France, Institut d'Études Politiques [IEP] - Paris
Christophe Chamley: PSE - Paris School of Economics - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS-PSL - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École nationale des ponts et chaussées - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement, PJSE - Paris Jourdan Sciences Economiques - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS-PSL - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École nationale des ponts et chaussées - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement, BU - Boston University [Boston]

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Abstract: Relying on new quantitative and qualitative data, we analyze how the United Kingdom financed the French Wars (1793–1821). We show that policy makers adjusted monetary and fiscal policies in four regimes. 1) tax-smoothing; 2) suspending the gold standard, real bills, war taxation; 3) the Bank of England's price support of government securities; 4) return to the old order. Under the price support regime, the Bank of England maintained the market value of public short-term debt by purchasing large amounts of it. Our findings suggest that in this context fiscal news shocks rather than fluctuations in the money supply caused inflation.

Date: 2024-05
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Published in European Review of Economic History, 2024, 28 (2), pp.225-253. ⟨10.1093/ereh/head019⟩

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-04805735

DOI: 10.1093/ereh/head019

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