“It was something they put a heck of effort into because all of them had such a hard time getting around their creditors. Independence was something that absolutist monarchs wanted, yet they could not achieve in large part because of the consequences of their desire to be absolutist.”

I thought we were finally agreeing! BTW – I highly suggest you read North and Weingast’s “Credible Commitment in Early Modern Europe” – I think you’ll enjoy it.

All three actually. It just isn’t remembered as much about Britain. Consider that at the end of the Rev. War that Britain was on its knees fiscally and delaying payments, etc. to its creditors.

I’m having a surprisingly hard time finding a continuous data series on debt burdens and interest rates for France and Britain…

Welcome to the early modern period.

To me, that says “greater access to credit”.

No, to me that says that Britain was doing less risky things – generally – than France was doing. France’s position as a land power in Europe explains this in other words.

Britain and Holland consistently had higher debt burdens per capita and lower interest rates than France and Spain.

RE: “Finally, France as much access to credit as Britain did”

Then why did it pay higher rates when it had a bigger economy and a lower total debt burden? In what sense is that “as much access to credit”? I’m having a surprisingly hard time finding a continuous data series on debt burdens and interest rates for France and Britain, except for a few snapshots in James McDonald’s book. But those snapshots indicate consistently higher debt burden per capita, smaller economy, and lower interest rates for Britain. To me, that says “greater access to credit”. Douglass North agreed and also made the liberty-public debt connection.

I’d also argue that this is wrong too. The relationship between the French monarchy from the time of Henry IV to that of Louis XVI is perfectly illustrative of this; the French crown (bankrupt that it so often was) depended heavily on its creditors to finance its wars. Of course this generally well known. What is less known is that Prussia and Britain – both monarchies of varying types – were also heavily indebted to their creditors. Both nearly sunk under the weight of their debt – a fate which France actually met.

As for France and Britain and tax farmers, Britain also had its own tax farming system, though it worked differently by being decentralized – so that is the difference between the two.

Finally, France as much access to credit as Britain did; France was after all the most powerful economy in 18th century Europe, had the most powerful land army, etc.