8 April 1918: Charlie Chaplin sells US government “Liberty Loans”

A-listers Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks drummed up public interest in the US government's Liberty Loans, on this day in 1918.

Wars are expensive. That's something the United States found out during the American Civil War in the 1860s. And to pay for it, the government the Union one, that is introduced a special tax. People don't much like taxes now, and they didn't then.

So, the question was, how do you tax the people to fight a war, and get them to like it? The answer: war bonds'. You borrow from your taxpayers as a patriotic act, and you pay them back (hopefully) with interest in the money they give you in taxes.

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Chris Carter
Wealth Editor, MoneyWeek

Chris Carter spent three glorious years reading English literature on the beautiful Welsh coast at Aberystwyth University. Graduating in 2005, he left for the University of York to specialise in Renaissance literature for his MA, before returning to his native Twickenham, in southwest London. He joined a Richmond-based recruitment company, where he worked with several clients, including the Queen’s bank, Coutts, as well as the super luxury, Dorchester-owned Coworth Park country house hotel, near Ascot in Berkshire.

Then, in 2011, Chris joined MoneyWeek. Initially working as part of the website production team, Chris soon rose to the lofty heights of wealth editor, overseeing MoneyWeek’s Spending It lifestyle section. Chris travels the globe in pursuit of his work, soaking up the local culture and sampling the very finest in cuisine, hotels and resorts for the magazine’s discerning readership. He also enjoys writing his fortnightly page on collectables, delving into the fascinating world of auctions and art, classic cars, coins, watches, wine and whisky investing.

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