The national debt…an explanation…
Posted by robin in Financial Articles Wednesday October 22, 2008 12:11 pm
“Let me take you back again to 1958. In the very first television interview given by a Governor of the Bank of England, Cameron Cobbold explained national debt to Robin Day on ‘Tell the People’, the highlight of ITN’s Sunday evening schedule fifty years ago.Here is the exchange:
“Cobbold: The National Debt represents the sums of money which the Government have over the years borrowed from the public, mainly in this country and, to some extent, abroad. That is really the amount of expenditure which they have failed over the period to cover by revenue.
“Day: Have we paid for World War II?
“Cobbold: No.
“Day: Have we paid for World War I?
“Cobbold: No.
“Day: Have we paid for the Battle of Waterloo?
“Cobbold: I don’t think you can exactly say that.”
Excerpt from a speech by Bank of England Governor Mervyn King to CBI, IOD, Leeds Chamber of Commerce 21 Oct 2008
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