Debtor Nation: The History of America in Red Ink : Sacramento Book ...

Filed in History on June 23, 2011 with no comments

By?Louis Hyman
Princeton University Press,$35.00,378 pages

This book explains how in recent decades American consumers and households got more and more credit which created, in part, the recent financial crisis and recession. ?Stretching from 1910 to the 1970?s this study shows how Americans began to rely on credit to finance the good life and how public policies and business practices supported the development of this type of credit.

One is shown in these pages how personal debt achieved a new role in American capitalism when it became sellable and profitable. Unemployment, wealth, inequality, and discrimination were all factors in the shifts in lending and borrowing practices of Americans.

During 1939?s New Deal, policy makers devised mortgage and consumer policies, convincing commercial banks that consumer credit could be profitable. ?Following World War II suburban Americans borrowed in the belief that their income would grow (which it did from 1945-1970). ?Alternatively financial institutions lent more money and borrowers paid it back. ?Consumers of the 1980?s borrowed on a wider scale to deal with other factors such as job losses and medical expenses.

This important book should be of interest not only to students of American history but also anyone interested in knowing how Americans became addicted to borrowing.

Reviewed by Claude Ury

Source: http://sacramentobookreview.com/history/debtor-nation-the-history-of-america-in-red-ink/

michael j fox forever 21 ghost hunters incubus red robin niagara falls mark sanchez