In England in the early 17th century, the Stuart monarchy, to finance its expenditures, increasingly resorted to "forced loans"—

admin2019-07-30  74

问题     In England in the early 17th century, the Stuart monarchy, to finance its expenditures, increasingly resorted to "forced loans"—where the lender had no recourse if loans were not repaid. This practice was one of many highly visible signs that the regime had no commitment to protecting property rights. Other indications include outright confiscation of land and funds, forced public procurement at below-market prices, a willingness to remove judges who ruled against the Crown, and the sale of monopoly rights over various lucrative economic activities. This arbitrary exercise of sovereign power was interrupted during the civil war in the middle of the century, but the restoration of the monarchy was accompanied by the return of the same excesses.
    The Glorious Revolution of 1688 ushered in a series of fundamental changes in political institutions that limited the arbitrary exercise of power by the sovereign. The revolution established the supremacy of parliament over the taxes and audit of the expenditures of the Crown. These steps were followed by the establishment of the Bank of England, which exercised important control over public finances. The result of these changes was a more equitable division of power between the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government. These restraints on the arbitrary exercise of power greatly enhanced the state’ s ability to finance public expenditures by issuing debt.
    The impact of these changes in political institutions and in the protection of property rights can be seen in the development of debt markets. In 1688 the Crown was able to place public debt equivalent to only 2 to 3 percent of GDP—and only of very short maturity and at very high interest rates. By 1697 the Crown was able to place and service debt equivalent to 40 percent of GDP, at lower interest rates and with longer maturities. The emergence of a functioning public debt market in turn benefited the development of the private capital markets that helped finance the Industrial Revolution that followed.

选项

答案 17世纪早期,英国斯图亚特政权为了筹资支付开支,越来越依赖“强制贷款”,即贷款若未能偿还则贷方无追索权。这一做法只是该政权无意保护财产权的众多明显表现之一。其他表现包括直接充公土地和现金,低于市价进行强制公共采购,毫不犹豫将敢于跟王国政府作对的法官撤职,出售各种能带来高额利润的经济活动的垄断权。17世纪中期的内战暂时打破了这种至高无上君权的专断独行的局面,但是伴随着君主制的复辟这些卑劣的行径又卷土重来了。 1688年的光荣革命带来了政治体制方面的根本变化,限制了君权的专断独行。这场革命确立了议会对税收的管辖权和对王室支出的监督权。接着又建立了英格兰银行,对控制公共财政起了重要作用。改革使政府的行政、立法、司法部门之间的权力划分更加均衡。通过限制专断权,国家通过发行债券为公共支出筹资的能力大大增强了。 从债券市场的发展中可以看出上述变化对于政治体制和产权保护的影响。1688年,王室只能发行占国内生产总值2%~3%的债券,而且债券期限很短,利率很高。到1697年,王室能够发行占国内生产总值40%的债券,有能力支付利息,且债券利率较低,期限较长。运作良好的公债市场的出现还促进了私人资本市场的发展,而私人资本市场的发展又为接下来发生的工业革命提供了资金支持。

解析
转载请注明原文地址:https://jikaoti.com/ti/gkcUFFFM
0

相关试题推荐
最新回复(0)