American Economic Journal:
Macroeconomics
ISSN 1945-7707 (Print) | ISSN 1945-7715 (Online)
Managing the UK National Debt 1694–2018
American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics
vol. 12,
no. 3, July 2020
(pp. 227–57)
Abstract
We examine UK debt management using a new monthly dataset on the quantity and market price of every individual bond issued by the government since 1694. Our bond-by-bond dataset identifies variations in the market value of debt and so captures investors' one-period holding returns, which is the cost of debt management in the government's intertemporal budget constraint. We find a substantial cost advantage in favor of issuing short bonds, even when considering some of the operational risks implied by cash flows and gross redemptions.Citation
Ellison, Martin, and Andrew Scott. 2020. "Managing the UK National Debt 1694–2018." American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics 12 (3): 227–57. DOI: 10.1257/mac.20180263Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- F34 International Lending and Debt Problems
- G15 International Financial Markets
- H63 National Debt; Debt Management; Sovereign Debt
- N23 Economic History: Financial Markets and Institutions: Europe: Pre-1913
- N24 Economic History: Financial Markets and Institutions: Europe: 1913-
- N43 Economic History: Government, War, Law, International Relations, and Regulation: Europe: Pre-1913
- N44 Economic History: Government, War, Law, International Relations, and Regulation: Europe: 1913-