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Britain tried war bonds before — and savers paid the price
['Ian King']
International: Top News And Analysis
The solution was to borrow from investors via a so-called "war loan," offering a coupon of 3.5%, repayable between 1925 and 1928.
Just over two years later, David Lloyd George, the chancellor (finance minister) responsible, became prime minister and decided to attempt a second issue of war loans.
The issue was supported by a marketing campaign with the slogan: "Unlike the soldier, the investor runs no risk."
Unfortunately for the three million people who invested £2.5 billion — around £261 billion in today's money at a conservative estimate — that proved untrue.
Astonishingly, there were still more than 120,000 holders of the debt, which in many cases had remained in the same family.