Consols, Financial Stability, and Pax Britannia
Claremont McKenna College Economics Working Paper No. 2004-05
Posted: 20 Apr 2004
Date Written: April 2004
Abstract
This paper identifies a sharp decline in the volatility of consol prices after the end of the Napoleonic wars in 1815. The volatility of consol returns drops by more than half after 1815 and our empirical testing confirms a long period of remarkable stability that includes the entire Victorian era at the height of the Pax Britannia. Over our 1729-1959 sample period significant shifts in the consol series, reflecting military events and monetary and fiscal policy shifts, are concentrated in the period between the Seven Years' War and Waterloo. There are no outliers between 1816 and 1914.
Keywords: consols, British empire, war, policy regimes
JEL Classification: E6, H3, N2
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
Richard C. K. Burdekin
Claremont McKenna College - Robert Day School ( email )
500 E. Ninth St.
Claremont, CA 91711-6400
United States
909-607-2884 (Phone)
909-621-8249 (Fax)
HOME PAGE: http://www.cmc.edu/rdschool
Marc D. Weidenmier
Claremont McKenna College - Robert Day School of Economics and Finance ( email )
500 E. Ninth St.
Claremont, CA 91711-6420
United States