Politicizing finance: the role of the UK government and UK banks in the development of the Eastern European sovereign debt crisis, 1970–1982: the case study of Romania and Hungary

Lefèvre, Catherine (2020) Politicizing finance: the role of the UK government and UK banks in the development of the Eastern European sovereign debt crisis, 1970–1982: the case study of Romania and Hungary. PhD thesis, University of Glasgow.

Due to Embargo and/or Third Party Copyright restrictions, this thesis is not available in this service.

Abstract

This thesis examines the role of the UK government and UK banks in the development of the Eastern European sovereign debt crisis between 1970–1982 with a focus on Romania and Hungary. This research offers a thorough analysis of how a sovereign debt crisis develops by examining the role of politics and the link between politics and finance, alongside economic factors. It also contributes to our understanding of how a creditor country can influence the build-up and outbreak of a crisis in a debtor country.
Previous research conducted on the development of a sovereign debt crisis reveals how economic factors contribute to the outbreak of a crisis. This PhD focuses on the role of politics and the link between politics and finance in the build-up of a crisis which is largely ignored in the sovereign debt literature. Furthermore, the involvement of the UK in the Eastern European sovereign debt crisis has only been addressed in a limited manner in the current literature.
In order to fully understand these factors, this PhD uses research conducted in the archives of UK banks, the UK government and the Bank of England. This has allowed for a thorough examination and assessment of the role of these actors in the development of the sovereign debt crisis in Eastern Europe. Furthermore, Romania and Hungary are used as case study countries to analyze how the actions of the UK government, UK banks and the Bank of England affected the development of the crisis in these individual countries.
From this research it is clear that the political strategies adopted by the UK government contributed to the build-up and outbreak of the Eastern European sovereign debt crisis. This thesis also highlights that UK banks maintained a prudent approach to Eastern European countries and did not engage in irresponsible lending which is evidenced by their low exposure in the region. The case studies on Romania and Hungary have evidenced that they were treated differently by the UK government and UK banks which contributed to Romania defaulting on its debts while Hungary managed to avoid default and debt rescheduling.

Item Type: Thesis (PhD)
Qualification Level: Doctoral
Additional Information: Due to copyright and embargo issues this thesis is not available.
Keywords: Eastern Europe, financial crisis, sovereign debt crisis, UK Government, UK banks, Cold War, politics, foreign policy, economics, finance.
Subjects: H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General)
H Social Sciences > HG Finance
Colleges/Schools: College of Social Sciences > School of Social and Political Sciences > Economic and Social History
Funder's Name: Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC)
Supervisor's Name: Mourlon-Druol, Prof. Emmanuel and Berry, Prof. Richard
Date of Award: 2020
Embargo Date: 26 April 2024
Depositing User: Ms Catherine Lefèvre
Unique ID: glathesis:2020-81578
Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author.
Date Deposited: 12 Aug 2020 11:17
Last Modified: 28 Apr 2021 12:29
URI: https://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/81578

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