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1999–2002 Sale Of United Kingdom Gold Reserves
The sale of UK gold reserves was a policy pursued by HM Treasury over the period between 1999 and 2002, when gold prices were at their lowest in 20 years, following an extended bear market. The period itself has been dubbed by some commentators as the Brown Bottom or Brown's Bottom. The period takes its name from Gordon Brown, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, who decided to sell approximately half of the UK's gold reserves in a series of auctions. This amounted to 395 tonnes of gold sold for $3.5 billion. The gold price increased at an average of 8% annually in the 25 years from 1999–2024. Events The UK government's intention to sell gold and reinvest the proceeds in foreign currency deposits, including euros, was announced on 7 May 1999, when the price of gold stood at US$282.40 per ounce (cf. the price in 1980: $850/oz) The official stated reason for this sale was to diversify the assets of the UK's reserves away from gold, which was deemed to be too volatile. However, man ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chancellor Gordon Brown Official Portrait
Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separated the judge and counsel from the audience. A chancellor's office is called a chancellery or chancery. The word is now used in the titles of many various officers in various settings (government, education, religion). Nowadays the term is most often used to describe: *The head of the government *A person in charge of foreign affairs *A person with duties related to justice *A person in charge of financial and economic issues *The head of a university Governmental positions Head of government Austria The Chancellor of Austria ('), is the head of the Government of Austria. Since 2025, the Chancellor of Austria is Christian Stocker. Germany The Chancellor of Germany (') is the head of government in Germany. In German politics, the ' is equ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Black Wednesday
Black Wednesday, or the 1992 sterling crisis, was a financial crisis that occurred on 16 September 1992 when the UK Government was forced to withdraw sterling from the (first) European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERMI), following a failed attempt to keep its exchange rate above the lower limit required for ERM participation. At that time, the United Kingdom held the Presidency of the Council of the European Union. The crisis damaged the credibility of the second Major ministry in handling of economic matters. The ruling Conservative Party suffered a landslide defeat five years later at the 1997 general election and did not return to power until 2010. The rebounding of the UK economy in the years following Black Wednesday has been attributed to the depreciation of sterling and the replacement of its currency tracking policy with an inflation targeting monetary stability policy. Prelude When the ERM was set up in 1979, the United Kingdom declined to join. This was a contr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1999 Scandals
1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launched by NASA. * January 25 – The 6.2 Colombia earthquake hits western Colombia, killing at least 1,900 people. February * February 7 – Abdullah II inherits the throne of Jordan, following the death of his father King Hussein. * February 11 – Pluto moves along its eccentric orbit further from the Sun than Neptune. It had been nearer than Neptune since 1979, and will become again in 2231. * February 12 – U.S. President Bill Clinton is acquitted in impeachment proceedings in the United States Senate. * February 16 ** In Uzbekistan, an apparent assassination attempt against President Islam Karimov takes place at government headquarters. ** Across Europe, Kurdish protestors take over embassies and hold hostages after ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Economic Policy In Europe
An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with the production, use, and management of resources. A given economy is a set of processes that involves its culture, values, education, technological evolution, history, social organization, political structure, legal systems, and natural resources as main factors. These factors give context, content, and set the conditions and parameters in which an economy functions. In other words, the economic domain is a social domain of interrelated human practices and transactions that does not stand alone. Economic agents can be individuals, businesses, organizations, or governments. Economic transactions occur when two groups or parties agree to the value or price of the transacted good or service, commonly expressed in a certain currency. However, m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Political Scandals In The United Kingdom
This is a list of political scandals in the United Kingdom in chronological order. Scandals implicating political figures or governments of the UK, often reported in the mass media, have long had repercussions for their popularity. Issues in political scandals have included alleged or proven financial and sexual matters, or various other allegations or actions taken by politicians that led to controversy. In British media and political discourse, such scandals have sometimes been referred to as political sleaze since the 1990s. Notable scandals include the Marconi scandal, Profumo affair and the 2009 expenses scandal. 1890s *Liberator Building Society scandal, in which the Liberal Party MP Jabez Balfour was exposed as running several fraudulent companies to conceal financial losses. Balfour fled to Argentina, but was eventually arrested and imprisoned. 1910s * Marconi scandal of insider trading by Liberal Party Ministers including: ** Rufus Isaacs, 1st Marquess of Reading, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gold In The United Kingdom
Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal, a group 11 element, and one of the noble metals. It is one of the least reactive chemical elements, being the second-lowest in the reactivity series. It is solid under standard conditions. Gold often occurs in free elemental (native state), as nuggets or grains, in rocks, veins, and alluvial deposits. It occurs in a solid solution series with the native element silver (as in electrum), naturally alloyed with other metals like copper and palladium, and mineral inclusions such as within pyrite. Less commonly, it occurs in minerals as gold compounds, often with tellurium (gold tellurides). Gold is resistant to most acids, though it does dissolve in aqua regia (a mixture of nitric acid and hydrochloric acid), forming a soluble tetrachloroaurate anio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2000s In Economic History
* Globalization: Multinational corporations become more pervasive, and anti-globalization protests occur frequently during meetings of International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Trade Organization (WTO), especially in the early 2000s. * The Euro becomes legal tender in twelve European Union countries in 2002. It is the largest monetary union in history. The euro eases trade in the Eurozone. By 2009, four more countries join the euro, Slovenia in 2007, Malta and Cyprus in 2008 and Slovakia in 2009. * The Nasdaq, the American Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange closed for six days after the September 11 attacks, the longest close since the Great Depression in 1929. *The 2000s contained two recessions, according to the U.S. National Bureau of Economic Research: the early 2000s recession and the Great Recession. * Major downturn in the value of dot-com company shares, with occasional exceptions (Google's IPO on August 13, 2004). The Internet continues to grow as a business ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1999 In Economic History
1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launched by NASA. * January 25 – The 6.2 1999 Colombia earthquake, Colombia earthquake hits western Colombia, killing at least 1,900 people. February * February 7 – Abdullah II of Jordan, Abdullah II inherits the throne of Jordan, following the death of his father King Hussein of Jordan, Hussein. * February 11 – Pluto moves along its eccentric orbit further from the Sun than Neptune. It had been nearer than Neptune since 1979, and will become again in 23rd century, 2231. * February 12 – U.S. President Bill Clinton is acquitted in Impeachment of Bill Clinton, impeachment proceedings in the United States Senate. * February 16 ** In Uzbekistan, an apparent 1999 Tashkent bombings, assassination attempt against President Isl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2000s In The United Kingdom
The history of the United Kingdom begins in 1707 with the Treaty of Union and Acts of Union. The core of the United Kingdom as a unified state came into being with the political union of the kingdoms of England and Scotland, into a new unitary state called Great Britain. Of this new state, the historian Simon Schama said: The Acts of Union 1800 added the Kingdom of Ireland to create the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The first decades were marked by Jacobite risings which ended with defeat for the Stuart cause at the Battle of Culloden in 1746. In 1763, victory in the Seven Years' War led to the growth of the First British Empire. With defeat by the United States, France and Spain in the War of American Independence, Great Britain lost its 13 American colonies and rebuilt a Second British Empire based in Asia and Africa. As a result, British culture, and its technological, political, constitutional, and linguistic influence, became worldwide. Politically t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1999 In The United Kingdom
Events from the year 1999 in the United Kingdom. This year is noted for the first meetings of the new Scottish Parliament and National Assembly for Wales. Incumbents *Monarch of the United Kingdom, Monarch – Elizabeth II *Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Prime Minister – Tony Blair (Labour Party (UK), Labour) Events January * January – Vauxhall Motors, Vauxhall launches a facelifted Opel Vectra, Vectra to improve its disappointing ride and build quality. * 1 January – The Euro currency is launched, but Britain's Labour government reportedly has no plans to introduce the currency here, preferring to stick to pound sterling instead. * 13 January – Unemployment has fallen to just over 1,300,000 – the lowest for 20 years. * 30 January – England national football team manager Glenn Hoddle gives an interview to ''The Times'' newspaper in which he suggests that people born with disabilities are paying for sins in a previous life. February * 2 February – The Foo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gold Investments
Of all the precious metals, gold is the most popular as an investment. Investors generally buy gold as a way of diversifying risk, especially through the use of futures contracts and derivatives. The gold market is subject to speculation and volatility as are other markets. Compared to other precious metals used for investment, gold has been the most effective safe haven across a number of countries. Gold price Gold has been used throughout history as money and has been a relative standard for currency equivalents specific to economic regions or countries, until recent times. Many European countries implemented gold standards in the latter part of the 19th century until these were temporarily suspended in the financial crises involving World War I. After World War II, the Bretton Woods system pegged the United States dollar to gold at a rate of US$35 per troy ounce. The system existed until the 1971 Nixon shock, when the US unilaterally suspended the direct converti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Economic History Of The United Kingdom
The economic history of the United Kingdom relates the economic development in the British state from the absorption of Wales into the Kingdom of England after Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542, 1535 to the modern United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland of the early 21st century. Scotland and England (including Wales, which had been treated as part of England since 1536) shared a monarch from 1603 but their economies were run separately until they were unified in the Act of Union 1707. Ireland was incorporated in the United Kingdom economy between 1800 and 1922; from 1922 the Irish Free State (the modern Republic of Ireland) became independent and set its own economic policy. Great Britain, and England in particular, became one of the most prosperous economic regions in the world between the late 1600s and early 1800s as a result of being the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution that began in the mid-eighteenth century. The developments brought by industrialisati ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
