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The Kids Aren’t Alright: The Policymaking of Student Loan Policy

… government repayment options, paying them off with other credit lines or just ignoring them. More interestingly, most … own student loan woes, with debts as much as $100,000. Obviously, student loan problems are not limited to my … student loan debt, policymakers struggling with a massive credit system, and people upset with an increased government …
Thy Neighbor: A History of Usury and Debt, by Charles R. Geisst Philadelphia By Spencer Tyce Book Cover.

Natural Laws and Predatory Lending for 3000 Years

Review of Beggar Thy Neighbor: A History of Usury and Debt, by Charles R. Geisst Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2013
… as well as the present day. Usury has long been viewed negatively because unethical individuals and groups … of debt in banking in the nineteenth century, the ease of credit acquisition in the twentieth century, and the establishment of credit to nation states and their origins.osu.edus overseen …

(Fore)Closing on the American Dream

… undergone some serious and well-publicized volatility, leaving many homeowners vulnerable to foreclosure. According to … like my parents, are not at risk because they have good credit, can afford the monthly payments, and live in an area … practices. These efforts were important in advertising credit rights and educating borrowers. However, policies …

Public Debt, Private Wealth: A History of Central Banks

… federal spending to prop up the economy during the COVID-19 crisis . But the swelling of debt began well before … central banks have authorized and backed with all the credit and trust they have been able to muster. Since the … wealth of the nation, and a bank at the very creation of credit and debt in the national economy—it would serve us …
The Slave Trade by Auguste Francois Biard (1833).

When Free Trade Meant Something Else

Review of Not Made by Slaves: Ethical Capitalism in the Age of Abolition, by Bronwen Everill (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2020)
… 1619 saw the arrival of the first enslaved Africans in the Virginia colony, marking the beginning of a dark legacy, the … business transactions, delving into issues of fraud, credit, and government relations. Merchants involved in … Abolitionists were also deeply engaged in a debate over credit and fraud. Some argued that credit was necessary to …
Artist representation of data security and privacy. Large eye peeks through an open window.

These Machines Know Too Damn Much

… of bleak Orwellian imagery, that the average American living in the Internet Age hands over dozens of snippets of … campaigns more sophisticated. With the rise of the credit card industry, consumer debt in the United States had … at the end of World War II . And with so much on the line, credit bureaus began relying on computers to access and …
 Monte Albán

A Postcard From Oaxaca, Mexico

… feet, the ancient city of Monte Albán was the Zapotec civilization’s cultural, political, and economic capital for … made it one of the largest cities in Mesoamerica. ( Photo Credit: Wikimedia). Oaxaca City is the state capital of the … . Its metropolitan population is about 650,000.  (Photo Credit: Wikimedia). The state of  Oaxaca  features some of …

Blue, Black, and Green: Inflation and the Fate of Argentina

… already suffering from higher costs for food, rents, and services,” said Deputy Patricia Bullrich. The government’s … In the modern period, overstretched international credit and a public distrust towards banks has stymied the … the second time, but British banks increased Argentina’s credit with the caveat that the government increase exports …
The sickle and hammer on a Soviet Union flag from the 1930s.

A Failed Empire: The Soviet Union in the Cold War from Stalin to Gorbachev (The New Cold War History)

Review of A Failed Empire: The Soviet Union in the Cold War from Stalin to Gorbachev (The New Cold War History) , by Vladislav Zubok (2007, University of North Carolina Press)
… For fifty years the Soviet Union stood in the eyes of the West as a terrifying … in the Third World. In my opinion, Zubok gives far too much credit to Brezhnev for the reduction of tensions between … In evaluating the end of the Cold War, Zubok does not give credit to the Reagan administration. The aggressive policies …
Portrait of Jimmy Carter from 1979.

The Nobel Committee Speaks to America

… Nobel Peace Prize to former President Jimmy Carter. By giving him this honor at this time, the Nobel Committee seized … of improving health and living conditions, he also deserves credit for his work on economic development and cooperation … His unfortunate association with the corrupt bank of Credit and Commerce International in the late 1980s has been …
Cover of The Rise and Fall of Modern American Conservatism: A Short History by David Farber.

The Far Right Stuff

Review of The Rise and Fall of Modern Conservatism, by David Farber (Princeton University Press, 2010)
Cover of Alexander the Great: A Life in Legend by Richard Stoneman.

Alexander the Great: A Life in Legend

Review of Alexander the Great: A Life in Legend, by Richard Stoneman (New Haven/London: Yale University Press, 2008)
… the Alexander legends. The Egyptian tradition, for example, credited Nectanebo, the last historical pharaoh of Egypt (r. … Pharaohs were descended. In Egypt, legitimacy required divine descent.  So, as Stoneman demonstrates, the Alexander … Serapeum Alexandria, but this version of the tale gives him credit for it. The most rewarding section of the book …
US Capitol, meeting place of Congress.

After Past Scandals, Real Reforms

… and urbanization that occurred after the Civil War, political machines used party control and local … bribery and corruption. One of the first was the 1872 Credit Mobilier scandal. Politicians had accepted gifts of … Age outrages mounted quickly as well. On the heels of Credit Mobilier was the scandal of the Whiskey Ring, which …
Whig cartoon showing the effects of unemployment on a family that has portraits of Democratic Presidents Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren on the wall.

The Bank Crisis Blame Game, Then and Now

… the underlying problems. Blaming George Bush and November’s victor for our mess won’t solve our own. The causes of any … had deregulated the American banking system. Offering easy credit without central regulation, hundreds of new banks … in his campaign. Doubt crept into investors’ minds. As credit lines dwindled and interest rates soared, overly …
Official Presidential portrait of Thomas Jefferson (by Rembrandt Peale, 1800).

Jefferson: Founding Father and Connoisseur

… spreads of heirloom vegetables and fine French wine so lavish as to make an oenophile blush.   In doing so, Jefferson … on July 4, 1826, Jefferson was so deep in debt to foreign creditors that everything he owned — including his slaves — … elegance. To the extent that he could pay for it-through credit-cost was no object.   How could Jefferson reconcile …
Glass negative of Woodrow Wilson from the Library of Congress.

Television Biography: History Lite

… "American Experience" series, it was beautifully produced. Vivid photographs and footage were combined with informative … converted to progressivism earlier, stating, "There was no credit to come in when I came in. The whole nation had … single most influential progressive leader, received little credit. He was described as a middle-of-the-road reformer …
Radio World's Fair in 1926.

“Black Tuesday” After 70 Years

… months before, Herbert Hoover had proclaimed that the final victory over poverty was within sight. His eyes had failed … inevitable collapse was postponed by selling products on credit to consumers who did not have the money to buy them. But by the summer of 1929 too many people’s credit had been exhausted. The economy was sinking before …

Punishing the Past: Presidential Elections in Times of Crisis (1932, 1968, 2008)

… that we are able to predict the consequences of proposed civic policies—that we can verify with certainty that they are … Franklin Roosevelt. In 1928 Hoover and his party had taken credit for the prosperity of the 1920s, and at the end of … the ones Hoover implemented would have created jobs and credit. For his years in office from 1929 to 1933, when The …

Canada’s Dark Side: Indigenous Peoples and Canada’s 150th Celebration

… the nation’s capital of Ottawa, a group of Indigenous activists, the Bawating Water Protectors, erected a teepee. In … during Canada’s 150th birthday celebrations  in 2017 [photo credit:  TML Weekly Information Project ]. Canada’s Houses … Between the Lakes Purchase from the Mississauga of the New Credit First Nation, she also recognizes that she is on the …

American Populism and the Persistence of the Paranoid Style

… 11, 2010, the late Washington Post political columnist David Broder puzzled and amused left-leaning portions of the … policy, 2) state-run, state-subsidized systems of commodity credit and storage, and 3) state regulation of the … This combination of policy and rhetoric is widely credited by historians and political scientists as having …

South America’s ‘Sleeping Giant’ Wakes: Brazil’s 2010 Election

… At the same time, the elections indicate that peaceful, civilian democracy—which returned to Brazil only in 1985 after … $60 billion, the IMF stepped in with $30.4 billion stand-by credit. In an unprecedented move, the IMF agreement was … state role in several sectors of the economy, such as in credit allocation. He did so by using the state development …