Showing results for "The Politics of Debt" in All Categories

Here, anthropologist David Graeber presents a stunning reversal of conventional wisdom: He shows that before there was money, there was debt. For more than 5,000 years, since the beginnings of the first agrarian empires, humans have used elaborate credit systems to buy and sell goods - that is, long before the invention of coins or cash. It is in this era, Graeber argues, that we also first encounter a society divided into debtors and creditors.

Armed with clear and powerful evidence, Atif Mian and Amir Sufi reveal in House of Debt how the Great Recession and Great Depression, as well as the current economic malaise in Europe, were caused by a large run-up in household debt followed by a significantly large drop in household spending. Though the banking crisis captured the public's attention, Mian and Sufi argue strongly with actual data that current policy is too heavily biased toward protecting banks and creditors.

Auge um Auge – Kugel um Kugel! In nur vierundzwanzig Stunden verwandelt sich Victors Urlaub in eine Todesfalle. London: MI5, die russische Mafia und der brutale Gangsterboss King John – sie alle jagen nur ein Ziel: Victor! Denn der gefährlichste Mafiaboss Londons wurde in seiner eigenen Suite ermordet und nicht viele sind zu so etwas fähig. Doch Victor, der beste Auftragskiller der Welt, denkt nicht daran zu fliehen. Denn es gibt eine Schuld zu begleichen. Mit Blut. Viel Blut!

Adair Turner became chairman of Britain's Financial Services Authority just as the global financial crisis struck in 2008, and he played a leading role in redesigning global financial regulation. In this eye-opening book, he sets the record straight about what really caused the crisis. It didn’t happen because banks are too big to fail—our addiction to private debt is to blame. Between Debt and the Devil challenges the belief that we need credit growth to fuel economic growth, and that rising debt is okay as long as inflation remains low.

Capital is the defining feature of modern economies, yet most people have no idea where it actually comes from. What is it, exactly, that transforms mere wealth into an asset that automatically creates more wealth? The Code of Capital explains how capital is created behind closed doors in the offices of private attorneys, and why this little-known fact is one of the biggest reasons for the widening wealth gap between the holders of capital and everybody else.

Bankruptcy is the busiest federal court in America. In theory, bankruptcy in America exists to cancel or restructure debts for people and companies that have way too many—a safety valve designed to provide a mechanism for restarting lives and businesses when things go wrong financially. Legal scholar Melissa B. Jacoby shows how bankruptcy has also become an escape hatch for powerful individuals, corporations, and governments, contributing in unseen and poorly understood ways to race, gender, and class inequality in America.

Brought to you by Penguin. Life gets complicated when Death gets involved. To be born into a family of royal assassins pretty much guarantees that your life is going to be... rather unusual. Especially if, like Miscellaneous "Lanie" Stones, you also have a vicious allergy to all forms of...

In his acclaimed book American Theocracy, Kevin Phillips warned of the perilous interaction of debt, financial recklessness, and the spiking cost (and growing scarcity) of oil- warnings that are proving to be frighteningly accurate. Now, in his most significant and timely book yet, Phillips...

Debtors have been mocked, scolded, and lied to for decades. We have been told that it is perfectly normal to go into debt to get medical care, to go to school, or even to pay for our own incarceration. We’ve been told there is no way to change an economy that pushes the majority into debt while a small minority hoard wealth and power. The coronavirus pandemic has revealed that mass indebtedness and extreme inequality are a political choice. In the early days of the crisis, elected officials drew up plans to spend trillions of dollars. The only question was: who would benefit?

In September 2008, when Chinese President Hu Jintao got word that Lehman Brothers, then the fourth-largest U.S. investment bank, was on the verge of bankruptcy, he was traveling by van along the bumpy roads of Shaanxi Province.

Credit and debt are more than just rational material exchanges within a market economy. They are socially constructed and center on matters of hard moral judgments about character, equity, and “good conscience.”

Almost as soon as the financial crisis struck in late 2007, policy-makers began working to prevent another one. The roots of the crisis, they contended, lay in reckless lending and excess debt. Banks had made massive loans to “subprime” borrowers, who had little ability to repay them, and the banks funded these investments with borrowed money. When the US housing bubble burst, millions of Americans defaulted on their mortgages, and the overleveraged banks collapsed.

"Ignoring the Debt Problem" is from the October 21, 2016 Opinion section of The New York Times. It was written by Paul A. Volcker and Peter G. Peterson and narrated by Paul Ryden.

"For His Latest Trick, John Oliver Forgives $15 Million in Medical Debt" is from the June 06, 2016 Entertainment section of The New York Times. It was written by Katie Rogers and narrated by Kristi Burns.

"Justices Reject Puerto Rico Law in Case on Restructuring Debt" is from the June 13, 2016 National section of The New York Times. It was written by Adam Liptak and narrated by Kristi Burns.

"Firms Offer Cash to Help New Lawyers Pay Student Debt" is from the July 14, 2016 Business section of The New York Times. It was written by Elizabeth Olson and narrated by Caroline Miller.

"Health Law Seems to Be Reducing People's Medical Debt" is from the April 20, 2016 The Upshot section of The New York Times. It was written by Margot Sanger Katz and narrated by Fleet Cooper.

"Signs of a Retail Rebound as Consumers Take On More Debt" is from the Business section of The New York Times. It was written by Norm Alster and narrated by Fleet Cooper.

"As Oil Prices Plummet, Mounting Debt Catches up with U.S. Producers" is from the Business section of The New York Times. It was written by Clifford Krauss and Michael Corkery and narrated by Fleet Cooper.

"Closing of Malaysian Fund Could Shift Billions in Debt to Government, Critics Fear" is from the May 06, 2016, World section of The New York Times. It was written by Richard C. Paddock and narrated by Barbara Benjamin-Creel.