Sections
Magazine
Latest Issue

Why a referendum on the death penalty might not be as far away as you think, what happens when politicians and judges pass the buck on law-making, why Britain struggles to escape the shadow of hands-off economics and the tricky moral terrain of growing babies outside of the womb. Plus Jacqueline Rose on the violence we ignore a review of Rachel Cusk’s new book

Read Now Or Checkout the archive
Previous
June 2021
May 2021
April 2021
March 2021
Events
Next Event

Watch: Managing global supply chains in a post-Covid world—current challenge or future opportunity?

Previous
What next for pensions? Why the 2020s are the crunch decade—discussion 2
Watch: How do we stop a generation from sleepwalking into retirement?
Watch: Homes for all—what new social and affordable housing can do for Britain
To the archive
Podcast
Latest Episode

The Prospect Podcast #184: The new Conservatives, with Rachel Sylvester

Previous
The Prospect Interview #183: Why Britain is condemned to be liberal
The Prospect Interview #182: The rise of the British shock jock
The Prospect Interview #181: The life and mind of Edward Said
To the archive
Essays Magazine Alistair Darling bank of england Business and Economics David Hume ecb John Stuart Mill Mervyn King qe quantitative easing

The Great Money Mystery

The Bank of England has flooded our economy with £200bn of new money to help boost growth; now, the Fed is pumping in another $600bn to America's. But where is it? And who has benefited? Nobody seems to know

By Faisal Islam  
October 20, 2010
November 2010

“Political Ravishment” by Gillray (1797): Prime Minister William Pitt loots the Bank of England by printing money to pay for a war

Many British schoolchildren will be familiar with the song “Magic Penny”: Hold it tight and you won’t have any Lend it, spend it, and you’ll have so many They’ll roll all over the floor

Though written by an American, its popularity in this country is unsurprising. It was here, after all, that David Hume and John Stuart Mill developed the quantity theory of money, the basis for modern monetarism. So it is entirely appropriate that Britain…

Register today to continue reading

You’ve hit your limit of three articles in the last 30 days. To get seven more, simply enter your email address below.

You’ll also receive our free e-book Prospect’s Top Thinkers 2020 and our newsletter with the best new writing on politics, economics, literature and the arts.

Prospect may process your personal information for our legitimate business purposes, to provide you with newsletters, subscription offers and other relevant information.

Click here to learn more about these purposes and how we use your data. You will be able to opt-out of further contact on the next page and in all our communications.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

We want to hear what you think about this article. Submit a letter to letters@prospect-magazine.co.uk

Faisal Islam

Faisal Islam is economics correspondent for Channel 4 News

More stories by Faisal Islam

More From Prospect