Walter Bagehot

Walter Bagehot
Walter Bagehot (1826–1877) was a British journalist, economist, and essayist, best known for his works on politics, economics, and literature. He was the editor of "The Economist" from 1860 to 1877 and played a significant role in shaping its editorial stance. His most famous work, "The English Constitution" (1867), provides a detailed analysis of the British political system, particularly the functioning of the monarchy, Parliament, and the cabinet. Bagehot also authored "Lombard Street" (1873), an influential study of banking and finance.

Author's Books:


There is a great difficulty in the way of a writer who attempts to sketch a living Constitution—a Constitution that is in actual work and power. The difficulty is that the object is in constant change. An historical writer does not feel this difficulty: he deals only with the past; he can say definitely, the Constitution worked in such and such a manner in the year at which he begins, and in a manner... more...

CHAPTER I. Introductory. I venture to call this Essay 'Lombard Street,' and not the 'Money Market,' or any such phrase, because I wish to deal, and to show that I mean to deal, with concrete realities. A notion prevails that the Money Market is something so impalpable that it can only be spoken of in very abstract words, and that therefore books on it must always be exceedingly... more...

THE PRELIMINARY AGE. One peculiarity of this age is the sudden acquisition of much physical knowledge. There is scarcely a department of science or art which is the same, or at all the same, as it was fifty years ago. A new world of inventions—of railways and of telegraphs—has grown up around us which we cannot help seeing; a new world of ideas is in the air and affects us, though we do not see it.... more...