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redeemed, but which paid a stable rate of return. Henry Clews writes,
in The Wall Street View, Silver Burdett Co. 1900, p. 255, "The
Consolidated Act of 1757 consolidated the debts of the nation of
England at 3%, which were kept in an account at the Bank of England
and is the great bulwark of its deposits." By ostentatiously "dumping"
"Consols" on the London Exchange after the Battle of Waterloo, in a
pretended panic, Nathan Meyer Rothschild then secretly bought up
the Consols sold in the panic by other holders at a low rate, and
became the largest holder of Consols, and thus won control of the
Bank of England in 1815.
12% Dividends
Although a Labor government nationalized the Bank of England in
1946, The Great Soviet Encyclopaedia points out (vol. I, p. 490c) that
the Bank of England continues to pay 12% dividends per annum, just as
it had done prior to the nationalization. The "Governor" is appointed by
the government, in a situation similar to that in the United States, where
the Governors of the Federal Reserve System are appointed by the
President. However, as is pointed out in the Encyclopaedia Americana
v. 13, p. 272, "In practice, the governors of the Bank of England have
not hesitated to criticize and bring pressure on the government in
public."
Bank Rate
The interest rate set by the Bank of England is known as "the Bank rate",
and it is a controlling factor in interest rates throughout the world,
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