Topics / Forgotten Fortunes
Sovereign Debt & Defaults
State borrowing, bond defaults, foreign debt commissions, and the geopolitical struggles between creditors and sovereign nations.
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Japan’s Sovereign Debt Surge: From the 1997 Fiscal Reform Crash to BoJ Bond Monetization
How Japan’s 1997 fiscal tightening, rising public debt and Bank of Japan policies transformed sovereign finance.
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China’s 1994 Tax-Sharing Reform and the Rise of Local Government Financing Vehicles
How China’s 1994 tax reforms changed local government finance and laid groundwork for debt-heavy investment.
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Germany’s Post-Reunification Inherited Debt Fund and the 2009 Debt Brake
How reunification debt and fiscal pressures shaped Germany’s constitutional debt brake in 2009.
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The East India Company’s 1772 Credit Crisis and the Calcutta Agency House Crash
The East India Company faced a severe cash squeeze in the early 1770s. Decades later, failures among Calcutta’s agency houses revealed fresh weaknesses in…
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East India Company Bonds, Surat Hundi Credit, and the 1698 £2 Million State Loan
The English East India Company drew on investors, bond finance and Indian credit networks while negotiating trading privileges. A £2 million government loan reshaped…
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France’s Sovereign Debt Climb, CADES, and Agence France Trésor OAT Innovations
France’s mounting public debt led to new ways to manage social liabilities and borrow from investors. Follow the creation of CADES and the evolution…
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The UK Mini-Bond Crisis: Why £990 Million Was Left at Risk
Seven failed British investment schemes left up to £990 million in debts. Years after London Capital & Finance collapsed, why were investors still exposed…
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Public Debt Management and Fiscal Sustainability in Thailand
How Thailand rebuilt its sovereign debt architecture after the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis, deployed THB 3.9 trillion in COVID-19 stimulus, and raised its debt…
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The 2009 Dubai World Debt Standstill: Quasi-Sovereign Leverage and Bailout
In November 2009, state-owned conglomerate Dubai World stunned global markets by seeking a standstill on $26 billion of debt, prompting an emergency $10 billion…
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The Venezuelan Blockade of 1902–1903 and Britain’s Foreign Bondholders
In December 1902 Britain, Germany and Italy blockaded Venezuela over unpaid claims and defaulted bonds. How London’s Corporation of Foreign Bondholders normally enforced debts,…
