Great Britain: The $3 Billion Bail Bond

Harold Wilson came to power seven weeks ago promising that "Britain will have just as much influence in the world as we can earn and deserve"—and gave his Labor government 100 days to make its mark. The financial world passed judgment in less than half that time, and in a crushing vote of no-confidence last week mounted the heaviest attack on the pound that Britain has faced since the early postwar years.

Thanks to a $3 billion, eleven-nation bailing-out operation backed by the U.S., both the pound and the Prime Minister managed to...