FRENCH REVOLUTION 479 30 25 20 spunod total govt spending 5 15 10 revenues civil plus debt service civil 八 1690 1700171017201730174017501760177017801790 FIc.2.-Revenues and spending in Britain,1689-1790.Total spending is decom- posed into three components:civil,debt service,and military expenditures.The three lines recorded for expenditures pertain to civil expenditures,civil plus debt service, and then total expenditures,so that the vertical distances between these lines represent, respectively,civil expenses,debt service,and military expenditures.Total revenues are depicted with small circles.Source:Mitchell (1988). mechanisms intended to make the state creditworthy (see North and Weingast [1989]for a modern account).The British king retained executive power,but the Parliament gained the powers to examine and censor the budget and to vote taxes.By 1715,the system had been refined into a method of funding by which each loan was accom- panied by a parliamentary vote for a specific tax to service the loan. Established in 1694,the Bank of England became an important element of a mechanism committing the government to pay its debts. By the mid 1720s,after the South Sea Bubble,the Bank had acquired virtual monopolies of servicing government debt and issuing notes. The Bank was designed to prevent the government from playing one lender against another.5 Its charter made it more difficult for the government to default,and the prominence of principal owners of the Bank ensured that any attempt to default would be well publi- 6 For interpretations of the Bank of England as a commitment mechanism,see Ma- caulay (1831,vol.3)and Hicks (1969,pp.93-95).See Greif,Milgrom,and Weingast (1994)for a related analysis.FRENCH REVOLUTION 479 30 25 - 20- ~0 ?L ttotal govt spending '60515- 0I 10 / reenues / 5 /civil plus debt service _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ~~~civil 1690 1700 1710 1720 1730 1740 1750 1760 1770 1780 1790 FIG. 2.-Revenues and spending in Britain, 1689-1790. Total spending is decom￾posed into three components: civil, debt service, and military expenditures. The three lines recorded for expenditures pertain to civil expenditures, civil plus debt service, and then total expenditures, so that the vertical distances between these lines represent, respectively, civil expenses, debt service, and military expenditures. Total revenues are depicted with small circles. Source: Mitchell (1988). mechanisms intended to make the state creditworthy (see North and Weingast [1989] for a modern account). The British king retained executive power, but the Parliament gained the powers to examine and censor the budget and to vote taxes. By 1715, the system had been refined into a method of funding by which each loan was accom￾panied by a parliamentary vote for a specific tax to service the loan. Established in 1694, the Bank of England became an important element of a mechanism committing the government to pay its debts. By the mid 1 720s, after the South Sea Bubble, the Bank had acquired virtual monopolies of servicing government debt and issuing notes. The Bank was designed to prevent the government from playing one lender against another.6 Its charter made it more difficult for the government to default, and the prominence of principal owners of the Bank ensured that any attempt to default would be well publi- 6 For interpretations of the Bank of England as a commitment mechanism, see Ma￾caulay (1831, vol. 3) and Hicks (1969, pp. 93-95). See Greif, Milgrom, and Weingast (1994) for a related analysis