Michael Lobban
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199258826
- eISBN:
- 9780191705168
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199258826.003.0019
- Subject:
- Law, Legal History
This chapter on consumer credit and debt in the 19th century covers imprisonment for debt, the poor man's bankruptcy, pawnbroking, money lenders, and the purchase of goods through hire purchase ...
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This chapter on consumer credit and debt in the 19th century covers imprisonment for debt, the poor man's bankruptcy, pawnbroking, money lenders, and the purchase of goods through hire purchase agreements.Less
This chapter on consumer credit and debt in the 19th century covers imprisonment for debt, the poor man's bankruptcy, pawnbroking, money lenders, and the purchase of goods through hire purchase agreements.
Jean Drèze, Peter Lanjouw, and Naresh Sharma
- Published in print:
- 1998
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198288329
- eISBN:
- 9780191596599
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198288328.003.0009
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Development, Growth, and Environmental
This chapter studies the credit market in Palanpur. Credit sources in the village are analysed and it is shown that the market in Palanpur is highly segmented. Both public and private sources of ...
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This chapter studies the credit market in Palanpur. Credit sources in the village are analysed and it is shown that the market in Palanpur is highly segmented. Both public and private sources of credit are studied, and it is shown that even within these broad categories, segmentation exists. Each segment of the credit market is studied in detail. The evolution and determination of interest rates are discussed. Access to credit by the poor is analysed and their dependence on moneylenders is documented. Findings are compared with those from other village studies in India.Less
This chapter studies the credit market in Palanpur. Credit sources in the village are analysed and it is shown that the market in Palanpur is highly segmented. Both public and private sources of credit are studied, and it is shown that even within these broad categories, segmentation exists. Each segment of the credit market is studied in detail. The evolution and determination of interest rates are discussed. Access to credit by the poor is analysed and their dependence on moneylenders is documented. Findings are compared with those from other village studies in India.
Amy M. Froide
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199270606
- eISBN:
- 9780191710216
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199270606.003.0005
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Early Modern History
This chapter examines the inheritance and wealth of urban singlewomen. It looks at the role never-married women played as property holders, rentiers, tax and rate payers, and money lenders. It argues ...
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This chapter examines the inheritance and wealth of urban singlewomen. It looks at the role never-married women played as property holders, rentiers, tax and rate payers, and money lenders. It argues that singlewomen were important urban citizens whose political role is reflected in the fact that they were even required to sign political oaths in the early 18th century.Less
This chapter examines the inheritance and wealth of urban singlewomen. It looks at the role never-married women played as property holders, rentiers, tax and rate payers, and money lenders. It argues that singlewomen were important urban citizens whose political role is reflected in the fact that they were even required to sign political oaths in the early 18th century.
Louis Hyman
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691140681
- eISBN:
- 9781400838400
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691140681.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century
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 ...
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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? This, the first book to follow the history of personal debt in modern America, 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, the book 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, the book presents a nuanced history of consumer credit practices in the United States and shows how little loans became big business.Less
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? This, the first book to follow the history of personal debt in modern America, 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, the book 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, the book presents a nuanced history of consumer credit practices in the United States and shows how little loans became big business.
Keith Hart
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- January 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780262035750
- eISBN:
- 9780262338332
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262035750.003.0017
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Macro- and Monetary Economics
Based on his first fieldwork in Ghana in the 1960s, the author recounts a story of being offered Confederate US banknotes for conversion, and uses this story to recount how he funded his initial ...
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Based on his first fieldwork in Ghana in the 1960s, the author recounts a story of being offered Confederate US banknotes for conversion, and uses this story to recount how he funded his initial period of anthropological research through money changing and money lending. He made quite a good living this way, so much so that he began to feel guilty about amassing such wealth. So, he spread it around, hiring research assistants. Instead of discharging the debt he felt he owed, however, this only increased it, as he became positioned as a big man who was expected to redistribute wealth to the people. Such grey zones in fieldwork spotlight the ethical quandaries of credit, debt and money in the anthropological encounter as well as in the making of the modern world.Less
Based on his first fieldwork in Ghana in the 1960s, the author recounts a story of being offered Confederate US banknotes for conversion, and uses this story to recount how he funded his initial period of anthropological research through money changing and money lending. He made quite a good living this way, so much so that he began to feel guilty about amassing such wealth. So, he spread it around, hiring research assistants. Instead of discharging the debt he felt he owed, however, this only increased it, as he became positioned as a big man who was expected to redistribute wealth to the people. Such grey zones in fieldwork spotlight the ethical quandaries of credit, debt and money in the anthropological encounter as well as in the making of the modern world.
Mark Teeuwen and Kate Wildman Nakai (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- November 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780231166447
- eISBN:
- 9780231535977
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231166447.003.0005
- Subject:
- History, Asian History
This chapter laments how the townspeople in Japan during the Edo period grew conceited, with particular emphasis on two tendencies among them, one that inspires abhorrence and another that arouses ...
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This chapter laments how the townspeople in Japan during the Edo period grew conceited, with particular emphasis on two tendencies among them, one that inspires abhorrence and another that arouses pity; the latter is the imbalance between the poor and the rich. It begins with a rough description of the matters that are to be abhorred by focusing on shogunal purveyors and wholesalers, domainal purveyors and storehouse agents, profligates and hoarders. It then takes a look at the wealth and arrogance of the Kuramae rice agents in Asakusa, the extravagance of Edo merchants, the townspeople's custom of having many concubines and kept women, and the practice of wives and concubines as well as clerks of townsmen to move around in palanquins. It also describes townspeople's ceremonies and the advantages enjoyed by townspeople, and how the pricing of goods gave rise to loss and gain, wealth and poverty. Finally, it discusses townspeople's freedom as compared with warriors and farmers, along with their money lending activities and other problems such as city crime and serious riots.Less
This chapter laments how the townspeople in Japan during the Edo period grew conceited, with particular emphasis on two tendencies among them, one that inspires abhorrence and another that arouses pity; the latter is the imbalance between the poor and the rich. It begins with a rough description of the matters that are to be abhorred by focusing on shogunal purveyors and wholesalers, domainal purveyors and storehouse agents, profligates and hoarders. It then takes a look at the wealth and arrogance of the Kuramae rice agents in Asakusa, the extravagance of Edo merchants, the townspeople's custom of having many concubines and kept women, and the practice of wives and concubines as well as clerks of townsmen to move around in palanquins. It also describes townspeople's ceremonies and the advantages enjoyed by townspeople, and how the pricing of goods gave rise to loss and gain, wealth and poverty. Finally, it discusses townspeople's freedom as compared with warriors and farmers, along with their money lending activities and other problems such as city crime and serious riots.
Sarah L. Quinn
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- January 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780691156750
- eISBN:
- 9780691185613
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691156750.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, American Politics
Federal housing finance policy and mortgage-backed securities have gained widespread attention in recent years because of the 2008 financial crisis, but issues of government credit have been part of ...
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Federal housing finance policy and mortgage-backed securities have gained widespread attention in recent years because of the 2008 financial crisis, but issues of government credit have been part of American life since the nation's founding. From the 1780s, when a watershed national land credit policy was established, to the postwar foundations of our current housing finance system, this book examines the evolution of securitization and federal credit programs. The book shows that since the Westward expansion, the US government has used financial markets to manage America's complex social divides, and politicians and officials across the political spectrum have turned to land sales, home ownership, and credit to provide economic opportunity without the appearance of market intervention or direct wealth redistribution. Highly technical systems, securitization, and credit programs have been fundamental to how Americans determined what they could and should owe one another. Over time, government officials embraced credit as a political tool that allowed them to navigate an increasingly complex and fractured political system, affirming the government's role as a consequential and creative market participant. Neither intermittent nor marginal, credit programs supported the growth of powerful industries, from railroads and farms to housing and finance; have been used for disaster relief, foreign policy, and military efforts; and were promoters of amortized mortgages, lending abroad, venture capital investment, and mortgage securitization. Illuminating America's market-heavy social policies, this book illustrates how political institutions became involved in the nation's lending practices.Less
Federal housing finance policy and mortgage-backed securities have gained widespread attention in recent years because of the 2008 financial crisis, but issues of government credit have been part of American life since the nation's founding. From the 1780s, when a watershed national land credit policy was established, to the postwar foundations of our current housing finance system, this book examines the evolution of securitization and federal credit programs. The book shows that since the Westward expansion, the US government has used financial markets to manage America's complex social divides, and politicians and officials across the political spectrum have turned to land sales, home ownership, and credit to provide economic opportunity without the appearance of market intervention or direct wealth redistribution. Highly technical systems, securitization, and credit programs have been fundamental to how Americans determined what they could and should owe one another. Over time, government officials embraced credit as a political tool that allowed them to navigate an increasingly complex and fractured political system, affirming the government's role as a consequential and creative market participant. Neither intermittent nor marginal, credit programs supported the growth of powerful industries, from railroads and farms to housing and finance; have been used for disaster relief, foreign policy, and military efforts; and were promoters of amortized mortgages, lending abroad, venture capital investment, and mortgage securitization. Illuminating America's market-heavy social policies, this book illustrates how political institutions became involved in the nation's lending practices.
Stefania Tutino
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- November 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780190694098
- eISBN:
- 9780190694128
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190694098.003.0010
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity, Philosophy of Religion
This chapter presents a second case study showing another concrete example of the issues to which probabilism was applied. Like the previous chapter, this chapter puts the theoretical and theological ...
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This chapter presents a second case study showing another concrete example of the issues to which probabilism was applied. Like the previous chapter, this chapter puts the theoretical and theological discussions on probabilism into the concrete social, economic, and cultural reality of the post-Reformation Catholic Church. This chapter explores the relationship between Catholic theology and money lending by examining the key role that probabilism played in helping theologians to maintain the traditional Catholic ban on usury while at the same time engaging with the burgeoning money-market economy and with other religious traditions with different doctrinal and social views on money, such as Judaism.Less
This chapter presents a second case study showing another concrete example of the issues to which probabilism was applied. Like the previous chapter, this chapter puts the theoretical and theological discussions on probabilism into the concrete social, economic, and cultural reality of the post-Reformation Catholic Church. This chapter explores the relationship between Catholic theology and money lending by examining the key role that probabilism played in helping theologians to maintain the traditional Catholic ban on usury while at the same time engaging with the burgeoning money-market economy and with other religious traditions with different doctrinal and social views on money, such as Judaism.
Will Hanley
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- January 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780231177627
- eISBN:
- 9780231542524
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231177627.003.0006
- Subject:
- History, Middle East History
Money—as wealth and as currency—was a medium for the spread of nationality in Alexandria. The wealthy were the earliest adopters of nationality practices, such as the use of passports for travel and ...
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Money—as wealth and as currency—was a medium for the spread of nationality in Alexandria. The wealthy were the earliest adopters of nationality practices, such as the use of passports for travel and the acquisition of foreign protection. Poor foreigners, meanwhile, were a burden on foreign communities and consular authorities. This chapter pays special attention to a set of civil and probate cases concerning money-lending and debt, which was a critical line between rich and poor and between foreign and local rights. It also examines official concern over forged currency, which was connected both figuratively and literally to institutional certification of personality through identity documents.Less
Money—as wealth and as currency—was a medium for the spread of nationality in Alexandria. The wealthy were the earliest adopters of nationality practices, such as the use of passports for travel and the acquisition of foreign protection. Poor foreigners, meanwhile, were a burden on foreign communities and consular authorities. This chapter pays special attention to a set of civil and probate cases concerning money-lending and debt, which was a critical line between rich and poor and between foreign and local rights. It also examines official concern over forged currency, which was connected both figuratively and literally to institutional certification of personality through identity documents.
Mark Teeuwen and Kate Wildman Nakai (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- November 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780231166447
- eISBN:
- 9780231535977
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231166447.003.0004
- Subject:
- History, Asian History
This chapter discusses the Way of yin and yang and how it can lead people astray by encouraging them to speculate on what has not yet happened. Yin-yang diviners turn their backs on the gods and ...
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This chapter discusses the Way of yin and yang and how it can lead people astray by encouraging them to speculate on what has not yet happened. Yin-yang diviners turn their backs on the gods and buddhas and disturb the Way of Heaven out of arrogance and greed. They consult Heaven at will by performing divination, fortune-telling, feng shui, face reading, avoidance rites for unlucky directions, and other protective rites; but they merely seek to confuse others, and none of them truly and honestly fear the verdict of Heaven. This chapter also examines how the blind came to hold official rank and appointments in Japan during the Edo period, their engagement in money lending, and their cruelty and arrogance. Finally, it considers lawsuits as a means for pursuing greed and desire, private settlements between plaintiffs and defendants, the practice of private settlement involving warriors, and obstacles to obtaining justice.Less
This chapter discusses the Way of yin and yang and how it can lead people astray by encouraging them to speculate on what has not yet happened. Yin-yang diviners turn their backs on the gods and buddhas and disturb the Way of Heaven out of arrogance and greed. They consult Heaven at will by performing divination, fortune-telling, feng shui, face reading, avoidance rites for unlucky directions, and other protective rites; but they merely seek to confuse others, and none of them truly and honestly fear the verdict of Heaven. This chapter also examines how the blind came to hold official rank and appointments in Japan during the Edo period, their engagement in money lending, and their cruelty and arrogance. Finally, it considers lawsuits as a means for pursuing greed and desire, private settlements between plaintiffs and defendants, the practice of private settlement involving warriors, and obstacles to obtaining justice.
Jean Andreau
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- March 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780198841845
- eISBN:
- 9780191877995
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198841845.003.0013
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, European History: BCE to 500CE
This chapter is devoted to capital and investments in the three groups of tablets found in the Vesuvian cities: the tablets of L. Caecilius Iucundus in Pompeii; those of Herculaneum; and the tablets ...
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This chapter is devoted to capital and investments in the three groups of tablets found in the Vesuvian cities: the tablets of L. Caecilius Iucundus in Pompeii; those of Herculaneum; and the tablets of the Sulpicii (also known as the Murecine tablets) which have to do with transactions carried out in Puteoli. These contain almost no evidence of innovation; on the contrary, they bear witness to a wide range of economic activities and give much information on capital and investments. Among these investments, it is necessary to distinguish two categories: firstly, investments that involve lending money and charging interest, without the lender being directly involved in a given production process or business (this type of investment is discussed in the second part of the chapter); and secondly, investments that are to the contrary accompanied by direct involvement of the lender in production or in commercial activity (investments discussed in the third part of the chapter). The first part of the chapter studies the ways in which a group of freedmen might manage to amass a certain capital and to have investments. The final part is devoted to the dealings which Caecilius Iucundus had with the city of Pompeii.Less
This chapter is devoted to capital and investments in the three groups of tablets found in the Vesuvian cities: the tablets of L. Caecilius Iucundus in Pompeii; those of Herculaneum; and the tablets of the Sulpicii (also known as the Murecine tablets) which have to do with transactions carried out in Puteoli. These contain almost no evidence of innovation; on the contrary, they bear witness to a wide range of economic activities and give much information on capital and investments. Among these investments, it is necessary to distinguish two categories: firstly, investments that involve lending money and charging interest, without the lender being directly involved in a given production process or business (this type of investment is discussed in the second part of the chapter); and secondly, investments that are to the contrary accompanied by direct involvement of the lender in production or in commercial activity (investments discussed in the third part of the chapter). The first part of the chapter studies the ways in which a group of freedmen might manage to amass a certain capital and to have investments. The final part is devoted to the dealings which Caecilius Iucundus had with the city of Pompeii.
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- June 2013
- ISBN:
- 9781846316999
- eISBN:
- 9781846317064
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5949/UPO9781846317064.016
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History
This chapter examines the history of fraud and scams in Liverpool during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. It explains that tricksters and fraudsters were among the most intelligent and artful ...
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This chapter examines the history of fraud and scams in Liverpool during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. It explains that tricksters and fraudsters were among the most intelligent and artful thieves because they were able to persuade people to literally hand over their money. It describes some of the most common fraudsters in Liverpool during this period which include sharpers, duffers, coiners, and fortune tellers. This chapter also considers scams related to pornography and money lending.Less
This chapter examines the history of fraud and scams in Liverpool during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. It explains that tricksters and fraudsters were among the most intelligent and artful thieves because they were able to persuade people to literally hand over their money. It describes some of the most common fraudsters in Liverpool during this period which include sharpers, duffers, coiners, and fortune tellers. This chapter also considers scams related to pornography and money lending.
Kenneth G. C. Reid
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- April 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780198704744
- eISBN:
- 9780191774041
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198704744.003.0025
- Subject:
- Law, Legal History
The first banknotes in Scotland were issued in 1695 following the incorporation of the Bank of Scotland and were an almost immediate success. A century later no fewer than 21 banks, mainly private, ...
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The first banknotes in Scotland were issued in 1695 following the incorporation of the Bank of Scotland and were an almost immediate success. A century later no fewer than 21 banks, mainly private, issued notes, and Scotland was awash with paper money. This proliferation of paper would hardly have been possible without a stable legal framework. In 1749, the case of Crawfurd v The Royal Bank considered, and settled, one of the key legal issues: whether the holder of a banknote took free from infirmities of title which affected those from whom it had been acquired. In the battle of doctrine against policy, Roman law was used as a proxy, with both sides calling on Digest texts and on the account of vindication in Voet’s Commentarius ad Pandectas. Victory for the Royal Bank was obtained only by re-characterizing a rule of bona fide consumption, by spending, as one of bona fide acquisition; and so with this flimsiest of doctrinal veneers, the free circulation of banknotes was assured.Less
The first banknotes in Scotland were issued in 1695 following the incorporation of the Bank of Scotland and were an almost immediate success. A century later no fewer than 21 banks, mainly private, issued notes, and Scotland was awash with paper money. This proliferation of paper would hardly have been possible without a stable legal framework. In 1749, the case of Crawfurd v The Royal Bank considered, and settled, one of the key legal issues: whether the holder of a banknote took free from infirmities of title which affected those from whom it had been acquired. In the battle of doctrine against policy, Roman law was used as a proxy, with both sides calling on Digest texts and on the account of vindication in Voet’s Commentarius ad Pandectas. Victory for the Royal Bank was obtained only by re-characterizing a rule of bona fide consumption, by spending, as one of bona fide acquisition; and so with this flimsiest of doctrinal veneers, the free circulation of banknotes was assured.
