Debt Nation The History Of America In Red Box Essay

After the Progressive Era ended which allowed many middle-class Americans to prosper, Americans faced economic turmoil when the Great Depression hit in the 1930’s. Many suffered hardships like losing their jobs or having their businesses shut down which was very difficult. Despite the challenges, the United States has managed to become one of the world’s most leading economical nations in the world, closely competing with eastern nations like Japan and China. But what induced this economic boost? Was it influenced by the stress of war? Did the mass distribution of credit play a part in this success? How did we get to being a nation that did not lend money to giving out credit to consumers? We will discuss and analyze these questions answered in Louis Hyman’s “Debtor Nation: The History of America in Red Ink.”

In Hyman’s “Debtor Nation: The History of America in Red Ink”, analyses the history of the American economy after the Cold War and how it was boosted by the implementation of banks giving out credit. Generally, during the late 19th to 20th century it was impossible to find consumer credit. People would often borrow money from their relatives or their boss and would sometimes get store credit at their local grocery store. Besides that, there was no other way to get credit. Later on small lenders called Loan Sharks would illegally lend money to people but their interest rates were really high, about 300% a year. This was what made their business illegal. Loan Sharks had high interest rates because it was really