The Bank of England and Public Policy, 1941-1958

The official history of the Bank of England, already available up to the Second World War, is here continued into the late wartime and early postwar periods. The author is a central banker by trade and a former Executive Director of the Bank. His account examines mainly how the Bank moved on after the hurried nationalization of 1946 and led a vigorous though often frustrated life in the postwar years, when sterling was subject to recurrent external weakness and when domestic monetary policy was beset by difficulties of content and conduct. The Bank’s relationship with the Treasury is central to the story, but Mr. Fforde also examines its evolving relationship with the financial community and with central banks overseas. The Bank’s contribution to public policy, in a frequently controversial field, is explained and assessed.