<p>After the Second World War the new Labour government nationalised the Bank of England. </p>

<p>Did this give the British Government any new capabilities? For example, could the Government print money before this?</p>

<p>What was the purpose of this move?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-05-08T22:02:40.720Z
The Bank of England was not just “a bank,” it had a special relationship with the government. It acted like a central bank, even though it was nominally private. I think your question needs to distinguish between that particular nationalisation and the nationalisation of other banks (typically when they were about to fail). I.e., which case interests you?
Brian Romanchuk
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-05-08T22:35:46.463Z
Thank you. I am more interested in the specific instance of nationalisation of the BOE after WW2.
52d6c6af
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-05-10T11:21:20.517Z
There’s a point form history at the BoE: https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/about/history . Also, I think that the book “Lombard Street” (by Bagehot) discusses the issues before nationalisation: the BoE was private, but expected to act as lender-of-last-resort in a crisis for the public good. Given the other nationalisations done at the time, taking over the BoE was not too surprising. (That’s the total of my knowledge of that situation, and I don’t think it qualifies as an answer.)
Brian Romanchuk
<banking><united-kingdom>
Why was the Bank of England nationalized after World War 2?
52d6c6af
# Why was the Bank of England nationalized after World War 2?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2019-05-08)

After the Second World War the new Labour government nationalised the Bank of England.

Did this give the British Government any new capabilities? For example, could the Government print money before this?

What was the purpose of this move?

**Tags:** banking, united-kingdom

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: The Bank of England was not just “a bank,” it had a special relationship with the government. It acted like a central bank, even though it was nominally private. I think your question needs to distinguish between that particular nationalisation and the nationalisation of other banks (typically when they were about to fail). I.e., which case interests you?  
> **username_0**: Thank you. I am more interested in the specific instance of nationalisation of the BOE after WW2.  
> **username_1**: There’s a point form history at the BoE: https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/about/history . Also, I think that the book “Lombard Street” (by Bagehot) discusses the issues before nationalisation: the BoE was private, but expected to act as lender-of-last-resort in a crisis for the public good. Given the other nationalisations done at the time, taking over the BoE was not too surprising. (That’s the total of my knowledge of that situation, and I don’t think it qualifies as an answer.)  

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