A Nation In Debt

Author : James MacDonald,James Macdonald
Publisher : Princeton University Press
Page : 580 pages
File Size : 41,7 Mb
Release : 2006-05-22
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 0691126321

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A Free Nation Deep in Debt by James MacDonald,James Macdonald Pdf

For the greater part of recorded history the most successful and powerful states were autocracies; yet now the world is increasingly dominated by democracies. In A Free Nation Deep in Debt, James Macdonald provides a novel answer for how and why this political transformation occurred. The pressures of war finance led ancient states to store up treasure; and treasure accumulation invariably favored autocratic states. But when the art of public borrowing was developed by the city-states of medieval Italy as a democratic alternative to the treasure chest, the balance of power tipped. From that point on, the pressures of war favored states with the greatest public creditworthiness; and the most creditworthy states were invariably those in which the people who provided the money also controlled the government. Democracy had found a secret weapon and the era of the citizen creditor was born. Macdonald unfolds this tale in a sweeping history that starts in biblical times, passes via medieval Italy to the wars and revolutions of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and ends with the great bond drives that financed the two world wars.

Author : Robert E. Wright
Publisher : McGraw Hill Professional
Page : 433 pages
File Size : 53,7 Mb
Release : 2008-05-01
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9780071543941

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One Nation Under Debt: Hamilton, Jefferson, and the History of What We Owe by Robert E. Wright Pdf

Like its current citizens, the United States was born in debt-a debt so deep that it threatened to destroy the young nation. Thomas Jefferson considered the national debt a monstrous fraud on posterity, while Alexander Hamilton believed debt would help America prosper. Both, as it turns out, were right. One Nation Under Debt explores the untold history of America's first national debt, which arose from the immense sums needed to conduct the American Revolution. Noted economic historian Robert Wright, Ph.D. tells in riveting narrative how a subjugated but enlightened people cast off a great tyrant-“but their liberty, won with promises as well as with the blood of patriots, came at a high price.” He brings to life the key events that shaped the U.S. financial system and explains how the actions of our forefathers laid the groundwork for the debt we still carry today. As an economically tenuous nation by Revolution's end, America's people struggled to get on their feet. Wright outlines how the formation of a new government originally reduced the nation's debt-but, as debt was critical to this government's survival, it resurfaced, to be beaten back once more. Wright then reveals how political leaders began accumulating massive new debts to ensure their popularity, setting the financial stage for decades to come. Wright traces critical evolutionary developments-from Alexander Hamilton's creation of the nation's first modern capital market, to the use of national bonds to further financial goals, to the drafting of state constitutions that created non-predatory governments. He shows how, by the end of Andrew Jackson's administration, America's financial system was contributing to national growth while at the same time new national and state debts were amassing, sealing the fate for future generations.

Author : Carl Lane
Publisher : Westholme Publishing
Page : 0 pages
File Size : 49,6 Mb
Release : 2014
Category : Debts, Public
ISBN : 1594162093

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A Nation Wholly Free by Carl Lane Pdf

"When President James Monroe announced in his 1824 message to Congress that the [nation's] large public debt, [accumulated since the Revolution], would be extinguished on January 1, 1835, Congress crafted legislation to transform that prediction into reality. Yet John Quincy Adams, Monroe's successor, seemed not to share the commitment to debt freedom, resulting in the rise of opposition to his administration and his defeat for reelection in the bitter presidential campaign of 1828. The new president, Andrew Jackson, was thoroughly committed to debt freedom, and when it was achieved, it became the only time in American history when the country carried no national debt. Lane shows that the great and disparate issues that confronted Jackson, such as internal improvements, the 'war' against the Second Bank of the United States, and the crisis surrounding South Carolina's refusal to pay federal tariffs, become unified when debt freedom is understood as a core element of Jacksonian Democracy."--

Author : James Macdonald
Publisher : Princeton University Press
Page : 574 pages
File Size : 45,6 Mb
Release : 2006-05-22
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9780691126326

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A Free Nation Deep in Debt by James Macdonald Pdf

For the greater part of recorded history the most successful and powerful states were autocracies; yet now the world is increasingly dominated by democracies. In A Free Nation Deep in Debt, James Macdonald provides a novel answer for how and why this political transformation occurred. The pressures of war finance led ancient states to store up treasure; and treasure accumulation invariably favored autocratic states. But when the art of public borrowing was developed by the city-states of medieval Italy as a democratic alternative to the treasure chest, the balance of power tipped. From that point on, the pressures of war favored states with the greatest public creditworthiness; and the most creditworthy states were invariably those in which the people who provided the money also controlled the government. Democracy had found a secret weapon and the era of the citizen creditor was born. Macdonald unfolds this tale in a sweeping history that starts in biblical times, passes via medieval Italy to the wars and revolutions of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and ends with the great bond drives that financed the two world wars.

Author : Frank N. Newman
Publisher : Hillcrest Publishing Group
Page : 105 pages
File Size : 46,5 Mb
Release : 2013-05-02
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9781626520387

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Freedom from National Debt by Frank N. Newman Pdf

America is unjustly worried about "national debt," believing it can no longer do the many things that mark it as a great nation. Discussions of national undertakings including infrastructure repair, jobs programs, military modernization, and disease prevention - have all been stifled through fear of insolvency. America has convinced itself that it can no longer afford, as a nation, to do many of the productive things that it has done so well over its history. That's a great shame, because America remains a nation of tremendous resources in every sense, and the underlying assumptions about U.S. government financial instruments are not correct. America can never face the debt problems of nations like Greece, thanks to its fundamentally different financial system. This short book explains why such fears should not hold back America, and why even the expression "national debt" is neither meaningful nor appropriate for the United States.

Author : M. Ayhan Kose,Peter Nagle,Franziska Ohnsorge,Naotaka Sugawara
Publisher : World Bank Publications
Page : 403 pages
File Size : 53,8 Mb
Release : 2021-03-03
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9781464815454

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Global Waves of Debt by M. Ayhan Kose,Peter Nagle,Franziska Ohnsorge,Naotaka Sugawara Pdf

The global economy has experienced four waves of rapid debt accumulation over the past 50 years. The first three debt waves ended with financial crises in many emerging market and developing economies. During the current wave, which started in 2010, the increase in debt in these economies has already been larger, faster, and broader-based than in the previous three waves. Current low interest rates mitigate some of the risks associated with high debt. However, emerging market and developing economies are also confronted by weak growth prospects, mounting vulnerabilities, and elevated global risks. A menu of policy options is available to reduce the likelihood that the current debt wave will end in crisis and, if crises do take place, will alleviate their impact.

Author : Murray Holland
Publisher : McGraw Hill Professional
Page : 290 pages
File Size : 44,5 Mb
Release : 2013-11-13
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9780071829793

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A Nation in the Red: The Government Debt Crisis and What We Can Do About It by Murray Holland Pdf

Our government debt is rising every day. Our population is shifting as more people retire and fewer are able to find work. This title helps you learn: how reckless spending by Congress has created a debt trap; and how Obamacare will negatively affect health care costs and our economy.

Author : Martin Slater
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 128 pages
File Size : 46,5 Mb
Release : 2018-09-01
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9780190935047

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The National Debt by Martin Slater Pdf

While it is central to today's politics, few people fully understand the National Debt and its role in shaping the course of British history. Without it, Britain would not have gained-and lost-two empires, nor won its wars against France and Germany. But Britain has also been molded by attempts to break free of the Debt, from postwar Keynesian economics to today's austerity. Martin Slater writes a vivid tale colored with some of the most dramatic incidents and personalities of Britain's past-from clashes between King and Parliament, American independence and war in Europe, to the abolition of slavery, the development of the Union and the role of leading figures such as Pitt, Gladstone, Adam Smith and Keynes. From medieval times to the 2008 financial crash and beyond, The National Debt explores the changing fortunes of the Debt, and so of Great Britain.

Author : Miguel Angel Centeno
Publisher : Penn State Press
Page : 203 pages
File Size : 49,7 Mb
Release : 2015-08-26
Category : History
ISBN : 9780271074191

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Blood and Debt by Miguel Angel Centeno Pdf

What role does war play in political development? Our understanding of the rise of the nation-state is based heavily on the Western European experience of war. Challenging the dominance of this model, Blood and Debt looks at Latin America's much different experience as more relevant to politics today in regions as varied as the Balkans and sub-Saharan Africa. The book's illuminating review of the relatively peaceful history of Latin America from the late eighteenth through the early twentieth centuries reveals the lack of two critical prerequisites needed for war: a political and military culture oriented toward international violence, and the state institutional capacity to carry it out. Using innovative new data such as tax receipts, naming of streets and public monuments, and conscription records, the author carefully examines how war affected the fiscal development of the state, the creation of national identity, and claims to citizenship. Rather than building nation-states and fostering democratic citizenship, he shows, war in Latin America destroyed institutions, confirmed internal divisions, and killed many without purpose or glory.

Author : Sutton Stokes,Tony Wharton
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 0 pages
File Size : 47,5 Mb
Release : 2023-01-02
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 1946206830

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A Nation in Debt: How Can We Pay the Bills? (2022) by Sutton Stokes,Tony Wharton Pdf

Author : Louis Hyman
Publisher : Princeton University Press
Page : 391 pages
File Size : 45,7 Mb
Release : 2011-01-03
Category : History
ISBN : 9781400838400

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Debtor Nation by Louis Hyman Pdf

The story of personal debt in modern America Before the twentieth century, personal debt resided on the fringes of the American economy, the province of small-time criminals and struggling merchants. By the end of the century, however, the most profitable corporations and banks in the country lent money to millions of American debtors. How did this happen? The first book to follow the history of personal debt in modern America, Debtor Nation traces the evolution of debt over the course of the twentieth century, following its transformation from fringe to mainstream—thanks to federal policy, financial innovation, and retail competition. How did banks begin making personal loans to consumers during the Great Depression? Why did the government invent mortgage-backed securities? Why was all consumer credit, not just mortgages, tax deductible until 1986? Who invented the credit card? Examining the intersection of government and business in everyday life, Louis Hyman takes the reader behind the scenes of the institutions that made modern lending possible: the halls of Congress, the boardrooms of multinationals, and the back rooms of loan sharks. America's newfound indebtedness resulted not from a culture in decline, but from changes in the larger structure of American capitalism that were created, in part, by the choices of the powerful—choices that made lending money to facilitate consumption more profitable than lending to invest in expanded production. From the origins of car financing to the creation of subprime lending, Debtor Nation presents a nuanced history of consumer credit practices in the United States and shows how little loans became big business.

Author : Jerry Robinson
Publisher : New Leaf Publishing Group
Page : 274 pages
File Size : 42,7 Mb
Release : 2009
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 089221693X

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Bankruptcy of Our Nation by Jerry Robinson Pdf

IDENTIFIES AND EXAMINES THE FIVE DANGEROUS TRENDS CURRENTLY IMPACTING THE U.S. ECONOMY AND YOUR FINANCIAL SECURITY.

Author : Timothy J Penny
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 192 pages
File Size : 48,5 Mb
Release : 2018-02-12
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9780429966996

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Payment Due by Timothy J Penny Pdf

T he generational wars are about to begin: competing for entitlements, wrestling over taxes, dancing around the deficit. Today’s children and grandchildren are tomorrow’s taxpayers and social fabric. The authors of Payment Due contend that our current policies of federal overspending are setting those children up for economic disaster. Former Representative Tim Penny (D-MN) knows how volatile the politics of the situation are; he retired because he couldn’t locate in Congress at large the institutional will (or stomach) to deal with the issues squarely. Political scientist Steven Schier understands the way in which the politics work against economics to solve the problem. Together, they take us inside the Capitol corridors to show us the lobbying, arm-twisting, and pork barrel politicking that goes on to derail policies designed to reduce the federal deficit. We get to play the “Washington Monument game” along with the worst of the offenders and to see firsthand how three schools of deficit thought—the wolves, pussycats, and termites—approach the prospect of cutting back federal outlays and weaning the great middle class from its own welfare dependency. A hallmark of the book is its three-tiered set of long-term entitlement reform proposals, complete with careful documentation of the contribution each recommended item makes toward reducing the federal deficit (or at least slowing its increase). Along with suggested short-term plans, these proposals give students the opportunity to try to solve both short- and long-term problems. Students will appreciate the timeliness and relevance of the book’s argument to their generation’s future plight, and all readers will benefit from the clear presentation of complex economic concepts and arguments essential to understanding the federal deficit debate—and to confronting the political, social, and moral payments now coming due.

Author : Carmen M. Reinhart,Kenneth S. Rogoff
Publisher : Peterson Inst for International Economics
Page : 157 pages
File Size : 50,9 Mb
Release : 2011
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 0881326224

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A Decade of Debt by Carmen M. Reinhart,Kenneth S. Rogoff Pdf

This book presents evidence that public debts in the advanced economies have surged in recent years to levels not recorded since the end of World War II, surpassing the heights reached during the First World War and the Great Depression. At the same time, private debt levels, particularly those of financial institutions and households, are in uncharted territory and are (in varying degrees) a contingent liability of the public sector in many countries. Historically, high leverage episodes have been associated with slower economic growth and a higher incidence of default or, more generally, restructuring of public and private debts. A more subtle form of debt restructuring in the guise of "financial repression" (which had its heyday during the tightly regulated Bretton Woods system) also importantly facilitated sharper and more rapid debt reduction than would have otherwise been the case from the late 1940s to the 1970s. It is conjectured here that the pressing needs of governments to reduce debt rollover risks and curb rising interest expenditures in light of the substantial debt overhang (combined with the widespread "official aversion" to explicit restructuring) are leading to a revival of financial repression-including more directed lending to government by captive domestic audiences (such as pension funds), explicit or implicit caps on interest rates, and tighter regulation on cross-border capital movements.

Author : Toru Toba
Publisher : Yen Press LLC
Page : 195 pages
File Size : 52,9 Mb
Release : 2019-09-03
Category : Fiction
ISBN : 9781975385163

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The Genius Prince's Guide to Raising a Nation Out of Debt (Hey, How About Treason?), Vol. 1 (light novel) by Toru Toba Pdf

It ain't easy being a genius... Prince Wein is ready to commit treason. And who can blame him? Faced with the impossible task of ruling his pathetic little kingdom, this poor guy just can't catch a break! But with his brilliant idea of auctioning off his country, this lazy prince should be able to retire once and for all. Or that was the plan...until his treasonous schemes lead to disastrous consequences-namely, accidental victories and the favor of his people!