Private borrowing during the financial revolution: Hoare’s Bank and its customers, 1702-1724

Peter Temin and Hans-Joachim Voth

Economics Working Papers from Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra

Abstract: The financial revolution improved the British government’s ability to borrow, and thus its ability to wage war. North andWeingast argued that it also permitted private parties to borrow more cheaply and widely.We test these inferences with evidence from a London bank.We confirm that private bank credit was cheap in the early eighteenth century, but we argue that it was not available widely. Importantly, the government reduced the usury rate in 1714, sharply reducing the circle of private clients that could be served profitably.

Keywords: Financial Revolution; growth; finance; rationing; usury laws; institutional evelopment; eighteenth-century England (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: E44 G18 G21 G28 N13 N23 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2005-05
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-fin, nep-fmk, nep-his and nep-mac
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:upf:upfgen:860

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