In 1880, the stock of aggregate bank lending to the private non-financial sector in the British economy was around 16% of GDP.1 It grew, gradually, over the next 100 years, except in the periods of the first and second world wars, when it fell sharply. In 1950, the stock of aggregate lending which includes credit provided by non-bank institutions, was 63%. It rose and fell of course but it broadly stayed around that level for the next 30 years. It was 63% in 1980. The rate of growth changed markedly in the last 20 years of the century which was a period of first liberalisation and then globalisation of the financial ... (full story)