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Reaction in the City

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It was very popular with the City of London, showing a sign of the new government's desire for a strong economy. Following the announcement the FTSE 100 Index leapt rapidly. The pound reached its highest level against the Deutsche mark since Sterling's exit from the ERM.

These remarks don't hold up when viewing the data. The FTSE didn't move a significant amount given the volatility of the period. The move in May (2.7%) was smaller than the previous April (4.4%) or the subsequent move in June (3.7%) (Bloomberg). These moves are about 1 standard deviation, i.e. not unusual. Similarly for the pound/mark rate. There appears to be no reaction in May, the peak was reached in the end of July (a reaction to US rates news), and subsequently moved sideways/down. I suggest that at best the reaction "In the City" was mixed. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 135.196.109.220 (talkcontribs). on 17 May 2006.

The Bank of England was apparently created in 1694 due to King William III defaulting on his Tally sticks?

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I noticed this fact isn't in the article, despite being able to find many sources for the claim. 110.174.171.123 (talk) 07:29, 3 October 2023 (UTC)[reply]

I believe it was a bit more complex than that, but you are right, the disastrous finances of the crown in the years leading to the creation of the BoE are not well summarized in the article. Currently it is simply like "The king wanted to build a fleet and needed to raise money", rather than "The king had been overspending dramatically and all attempts at refinancing had failed completely, leading to total lack of credibility". The role of goldsmiths, the invention of government bonds, the national lottery, and yes, tally sticks, should all be mentioned. The problem is that an accurate account of events would not sound very honorable, and someone might want to come in and tone it down. If you have good sources, please do try. Megustalastrufas (talk) 08:59, 3 October 2023 (UTC)[reply]