The National Debt A Short History [Hardcover]

While it is central to today's politics, few people fully understand the National Debt and its role in shaping the course of British history. Without it, Britain would not have gained-and lost-two empires, nor won its wars against France and Germany. But Britain has also been molded by attempts to break free of the Debt, from postwar Keynesian economics to today's austerity.
Martin Slater writes a vivid tale colored with some of the most dramatic incidents and personalities of Britain's past-from clashes between King and Parliament, American independence and war in Europe, to the abolition of slavery, the development of the Union and the role of leading figures such as Pitt, Gladstone, Adam Smith and Keynes.
From medieval times to the 2008 financial crash and beyond,The National Debtexplores the changing fortunes of the Debt, and so of Great Britain.


Ch 1 Introduction: why should we worry?
Ch 2 Pre-history
Medieval Public Finance
Tallies
Towards the Civil War
The Commonwealth and Restoration

Ch 3 The Beginnings of the National Debt
The Order of Repayment and the Stop of the Exchequer
First Long-term Loans
The Bank of England
The South Sea Company
The South Sea Bubble
Appendix to Ch 3: Bond Vocabulary

Ch 4 War and Peace in the Eighteenth Century
The Structure of Indebtedness: Repayment, Conversion, Consolidation
Walpole's Sinking Fund
Pelham's Consolidation: the Birth of the Consol
The Seven Years' War and the War of American Independence
Loan Contractors
Appendix to Ch.4: Bond Mechanics

Ch 5 Pitt's Sinking Fund and the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars
Repayment and the Sinking Fund
The French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars
Lord Henry Petty's Scheme
The Floating Debt
Income Tax
Inflation

Ch 6 The Nineteenth Century: a century of peace
Early Years
Abolition of Slavery
Gladstone
Productive Investment
Northcote's New Sil6