The work of the Stock Exchange

Bibliographic data

Monograph

Identifikator:: 1831284952

URN:: urn:nbn:de:zbw-retromon-225876

Document type:: Monograph

Author:: Meeker, James Edward http://d-nb.info/gnd/126597340

Title:: The work of the Stock Exchange

Edition:: Revised edition

Place of publication:: New York

Publisher:: The Ronald Press Company

Year of publication:: [1930]

Scope:: XVI, 720 Seiten; Illustrationen, Diagramme

Digitisation:: 2022

Collection:: Economics Books

Usage license:: Get license information via the feedback formular.

Chapter

Document type:: Monograph

Structure type:: Chapter

Title:: Chapter I. The evolution of securities

Collection:: Economics Books

THE EVOLUTION OF SECURITIES tragic human consequences, and with such an unavoidable eco- nomic moral, as in the period following the Great War. The truth is that there is no royal road to financing govern- ments, simply because they are governments. No practical magic is available which will permit government officials to escape the same invariable economic laws that the individual constantly encounters in his check book. As with individuals, governments which cannot obtain enough current revenue to pay current expenses, must contract debts whose reduction can be effected only by a more favorable ratio between revenues and expenses in the future. Early Methods of Government Borrowing.—The exact methods employed by governments in borrowing money, along with the methods for business borrowing, have, of course, undergone great changes in the past three centuries. Origi- nally, when most European countries were monarchies, and before national debts managed by parliaments and assemblies had been instituted, governmental loans were personally ob- tained and assumed by the sovereign.! Thus, in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and in some countries even later, the kings and queens of Europe constantly resorted to private money-lenders for short-term loans, which afterward were paid off by royal taxation, refunded, or repudiated. Such loans were frequently made on the pledged collateral of the royal jewels, or even on the assignment of specified taxes. The great but troublous reign of Elizabeth was financed through loans made by the Antwerp money-lenders. Such transactions afford strong contrast with governmental financing as we know it today. The risks in such loans were large, for the proverbial honor of princes seemed only occasionally to extend to their debts. Interest rates had to be high enough to insure against the risk of royal repudiation. The element of patriotism in such loans was practically non-existent, nor was there yet any employment of them to promote international trade. More- 1 See Appendix Ia.

Access restriction

Copyright

fullscreen: The work of the Stock Exchange

Monograph

Chapter

Table of contents

Download

Monograph

Chapter

This page

Image fragment

Citation links

Citation recommendation