Political economy factors overshadow standard economic explanations of financial markets behavior. During 300 plus long years, Britain traversed from a small island nation to become the world’s biggest empire and financial capital by the 19th century, before the tide turned in the 20th century. Britain issued consols (consolidated annuities) or perpetual bonds starting in the 18th century to finance its public spending. These bonds carried a fixed face-value coupon interest rate, but yields varied as their prices changed, reflecting the financial market’s changing assessment of risk. Using Bank of England data, we find that traditional economic explanations, inflation and public debt, do not explain well these movements. Instead, using ‘cliometrics’, the study of history with statistical methods,we find that more fundamental political economy factors work better: the rise and fall of Empire, profits of Atlantic slave trade, wars, depressions, pound sterling’s loss of global reserve currency status, global financial crises, and salient in today’s context, pandemics. We analyze how yields on British consols over three hundred plus years mirrored these great events, as Britain rose and then waned in the shadow of empire. There are lessons for today’s ascendant and emerging powers, and our understanding of financial markets. (198 words)