经济-社会史视角下英格兰银行的建立

The Foundation of the Bank of England from a Perspective of Economic and Social History

17世纪的英国经历了一场货币危机,铸币短缺催生了建立银行的各种构想。1694年成立的英格兰银行,以公债形式发行银行券,仅用12天就筹集到120万磅。它的成功发行不仅因为得到议会支持,政治制度为财产权和银行的建立提供了制度保障,社会上层与普通民众的投资意识则是根本因素。英格兰银行股东的分布情况充分说明财富积累于英国社会各个阶层。英格兰银行正是依靠银行券的生产性和可转让性,助力英国经济"起飞"。

A currency crisis took place in the 17 th century England. The shortage of coins gave birth to various ideas for the establishing banks. The Bank of England founded in 1694 issued bank notes by raising public debts. It just took 12 days to completely raised 1.2 million pounds. Although the support of parliament and the political institution that protected property rights could account for its success, fundamental reasons were rooted in ideas of investment shared by the upper class and the common people. The shareholders’ distribution clearly illustrated that wealth accumulation had reached people from all walks of life in England. It was the productive and assignable character of bank notes issued by the Bank of England that motivated economy to take off.