1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910255040103321

Autore

Milevsky Moshe Arye

Titolo

The Day the King Defaulted : Financial Lessons from the Stop of the Exchequer in 1672 / / by Moshe Arye Milevsky

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Cham : , : Springer International Publishing : , : Imprint : Palgrave Macmillan, , 2017

ISBN

9783319599878

3319599879

Edizione

[1st ed. 2017.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (XXI, 218 p. 23 illus., 17 illus. in color.)

Disciplina

336.42

Soggetti

Finance

History

Financial services industry

Economic history

Macroeconomics

Financial Economics

Financial History

Financial Services

Economic History

Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Sommario/riassunto

This book studies King Charles II's decision to stop all payments from his royal exchequer, a sordid but little-known event in English history with eerie similarities to the cause of the Great Recession of 2008. As with any modern banking crisis, the financial system in 1672 almost collapsed, day-to-day commerce ground to a halt, houses were lost, and ordinary investors suffered – but there was no banking bailout, and no mercy for the goldsmith-bankers who had lent the king millions to fund his unsustainable lifestyle. The royal decision, made in the wake of plagues, fires, and war with the Dutch, left bankers unable to cover their own liabilities and, in the days before bankruptcy, they couldn’t



walk away from their obligations and start fresh. Many bankers spent the end of their lives in debtors' prison, but English commoners had little sympathy for the plight of rich financiers – a sentiment echoed after the financial crisis of 2008. Ultimately, this book tells the complete story ofthe Merry Monarch's financial default (England's first and last) using the lens and language of modern financial products and markets. It covers the precarious history leading up to the infamous day in 1672, the intrigue surrounding the ‘stop’ – including those who traded on inside information beforehand – as well as the attempt by distressed creditors to gain financial restitution. .