Three major findings are gleaned from the data. First, we find that the degree of monetization on the eve of the Famine was comparatively high. Second, we find an unprecedented monetary contraction during the Famine. Third, in contrast to previous research, we find that the failure of the Munster Bank in 1885 had ramifications for confidence in, and the stability of, the banking system.T his article presents new monthly estimates of the narrow money supply and annual estimates of the broad money supply in Ireland between 1840 and 1921. The aggregates are constructed from a range of archival sources and contemporary publications. The period under investigation covers the Great Famine, the agricultural depressions of the late 1850s and 1870s, the failure of the Tipperary and Munster banks, and the First World War. It was also a time of rising living standards, as reflected in measures such as wages, consumption, literacy, life-span, height, and birth weight. 1 This article is partly motivated by an old debate regarding the degree to which Ireland was monetized and financially developed on the eve of the Famine. 2 It has been argued that it was underdevelopment in this regard that left the country vulnerable to exogenous shocks. The article is also motivated by the dearth of macroeconomic time series before the interwar period. A notable example here is the lack of annual national accounts. In recent years, however, new data have been constructed for the stock market, the grain trade, and the production of various goods, among others. 3 This growing body of research sheds much-needed light on the Irish economy in the nineteenth century.The new data build on earlier work by O'Rourke, who summed notes in circulation and gross deposits for this period, by adding series for coins and reserves, which varied in importance over time, as well as correcting the deposit series for adjustment items and missing banks. 4 It also contributes to the recent
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In this paper, we discuss the apportionment of national debt when Ireland exited the UK in 1922. We estimate that the claim on Ireland amounted to 80 percent of Irish Gross National Product (G.N.P.) and describe how it was ultimately waived at the expense of an unchanged land border with Northern Ireland. While this represents the largest debt relief episode in the twentieth century, the political cost of the agreement exceeded the financial gain in the long run. We find that domestic markets reacted more to political uncertainty than the pending liability, despite the financial stability which resulted from the debt write-down.
This article examines the aftermath of the 1897 Riksbank Act in Swedish banking. The act placed banks with unlimited liability and those with limited liability on equal footing, removing the note-issuing privileges of the former. We consider whether changes in risk preferences occurred subsequent to the act, or whether extended liability was a sufficient deterrent. We conclude that when legal differences were removed, lower transaction costs for unlimited liability banks (ULBs) spurred aggressive competition, reflected in narrower interest spreads relative to limited liability banks (LLBs). ULBs also took on greater leverage and held less liquidity, which supports the Coasean interpretation that the shareholder liability regime mattered little. After 1897, ULB shareholders continued to receive higher dividends, enjoyed substantially superior returns on equity, and maintained an array of corporate governance controls to shield themselves against their additional risk.
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