Government bond underwriting

国債引受 ／ bond-underwriting　—　Institutions

When bankers purchase a country's debt certificates in bulk and then sell them to investors.

Banknote of the Banque Royale1720 National bank note (ten dollars)1929 series

To underwrite a nation's bonds is to hold sway over its decision to wage war. If no one lends, it cannot fight. The price of government bonds is set daily on the market, making a country's creditworthiness visible as a number. The Bank of England created the framework in 1694, and in the nineteenth century, the Rothschild family underwrote the bonds of various nations.