In this lively history of consumer debt in America, economic historian Louis Hyman demonstrates that today’s problems are not as new as we think.
 
Borrow examines how the rise of consumer borrowing—virtually unknown before the twentieth century—has altered our culture and economy. Starting in the years before the Great Depression, increased access to money raised living standards but also introduced unforeseen risks. As lending grew more and more profitable, it displaced funds available for business borrowing, setting our economy on an unsustainable course. Told through the vivid stories of individuals and institutions affected by these changes, Borrow charts the collision of commerce and culture in twentieth-century America, giving an historical perspective on what is new—and what is not—in today’s economic turmoil.

A Paperback Original

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• Borrow
• The American Way of Debt
• Louis Hyman

Practical paralegal text that covers the basics of bankruptcy practice, debt creation, secured transactions, the law of liens, and debt collection practices.

Features of The ABCs of Debt:

Completely up-to-date coverage of both bankruptcy law and the related topics of debt creation, debt collection, and the discharge or reorganization of debt in bankruptcy. Debt creation and debt collection are covered in detail before addressing bankruptcy, putting the entire debtor/creditor relationship into a broader, more realistic context. Bankruptcy law is presented in a clear, readable format that focuses on the main concepts rather than the minutia of the law. The bankruptcy process is addressed sequentially, as it arises in actual cases, rather than piecemeal. Not only teaches students about the law but also how to apply the law. By stressing the how-to of debtor/creditor law, this text provides the student that critical bridge between simply knowing about a subject and being able to function as a paralegal in the office where debtor-creditor work is done.In addition to examples and forms, Parsons uses realistic case studies to enable students to apply the knowledge and skills they are learning. Forms for use with these case studies included on a CD with the book. The text provides a step-by-step instruction for completing a bankruptcy petition and the challenging OBF 22A for the Chapter 7 means test and OBF 22C for the Chapter 13 determination of commitment period and projected disposable income. Helpful pedagogy includes: Forms and illustrations Examples Case excerpts and summaries Learn-by-doing exercises Problems/Hypotheticals Ethical queries Key terms/marginal definitions Review questions

Greece isn’t the only country drowning in debt. The Debt Supercycle—when the easily managed, decades-long growth of debt results in a massive sovereign debt and credit crisis—is affecting developed countries around the world, including the United States. For these countries, there are only two options, and neither is good—restructure the debt or reduce it through austerity measures. Endgame details the Debt Supercycle and the sovereign debt crisis, and shows that, while there are no good choices, the worst choice would be to ignore the deleveraging resulting from the credit crisis. The book:Reveals why the world economy is in for an extended period of sluggish growth, high unemployment, and volatile markets punctuated by persistent recessionsReviews global markets, trends in population, government policies, and currencies

Around the world, countries are faced with difficult choices. Endgame provides a framework for making those choices.

Q&A with Authors John Mauldin and Jonathan Tepper

Author John Mauldin What is the debt supercycle?
Over a period of about sixty years, debt levels grew faster than incomes. This increase in debt became particularly pronounced in the 1980s, 90s and finally went parabolic after the Federal Reserve lowered interest rates to 1% after the Nasdaq crash. The increase in debt was not just a US phenomenon. As interest rates fell structurally with the fall in inflation from 1982 onwards, people took on more debt because it became more manageable. However, by 2008 the burden of debt became too much to bear and the debt supercycle came to an end. People started deleveraging and banks started collapsing due to low levels of capital and large losses from loans people couldn’t pay back.

How does the sovereign debt crisis play into this?
The rapid contraction in debt levels due to default and deleveraging lead to a fall in economic activity as people started saving and cutting spending. Governments immediately stepped in and backed bank debt with explicit guarantees. Governments also started borrowing and spending to transfer money to the private sector, for example via unemployment insurance. So in a very real sense, private borrowing was replaced with public borrowing. Debt was added onto more debt. Rather than free itself of debt, the system now has more debt. The sovereign debt crisis is the recognition that most of this debt will not be paid back, and governments are making promises to pay debt and other obligations, for example general spending and pensions, that they simply lack the ability to fulfill.

Author Jonathan Tepper The end of the debt supercycle and the beginning of the sovereign debt crisis present problems and challenges for investors and governments. Governments will need to either 1) inflate, 2) default or 3) devalue, which is similar to inflate. That is the way governments have historically dealt with too much debt. Some countries will experience deflation and others inflation, depending on what choices governments make. Currently governments have only bad and worse choices. Let’s hope they can choose wisely.

What do you predict for the next ten years?
Central banks globally have shown a predisposition to print money to solve problems. We forsee rising inflation in many parts of the world, reductions in real income as people lose purchasing power due to higher food and fuel prices and more macroeconomic volatility. Some countries that do not control their own money supply or are running pegs may experience deflation as they are forced to delever and cannot increase the money supply to counteract the weight of deleveraging.

You cite the events in Greece as an example of a country continuing to run massive deficits. Is there an example of a country making a better choice?
The UK is making some of the right steps to control spending, but even the UK could be more draconian. In nominal and real terms, government spending in aggregate will not be cut in the UK. Also, Iceland has made positive steps by defaulting on its debt effectively. Default is a good way to cure too much debt.

Credit and debt appear to be natural, permanent facets of Americans’ lives, but a debt-based economy and debt-financed lifestyles are actually recent inventions. In 1951 Diners Club issued a plastic card that enabled patrons to pay for their meals at select New York City restaurants at the end of each month. Soon other “charge cards” (as they were then known) offered the convenience for travelers throughout the United States to pay for hotels, food, and entertainment on credit. In the 1970s the advent of computers and the deregulation of banking created an explosion in credit card use—and consumer debt. With gigantic national banks and computer systems that allowed variable interest rates, consumer screening, mass mailings, and methods to discipline slow payers with penalties and fees, middle-class Americans experienced a sea change in their lives.

Given the enormous profits from issuing credit, banks and chain stores used aggressive marketing to reach Americans experiencing such crises as divorce or unemployment, to help them make ends meet or to persuade them that they could live beyond their means. After banks exhausted the profits from this group of people, they moved into the market for college credit cards and student loans and then into predatory lending (through check-cashing stores and pawnshops) to the poor. In 2003, Americans owed nearly $8 trillion in consumer debt, amounting to 130 percent of their average disposable income. The role of credit and debt in people’s lives is one of the most important social and economic issues of our age.

Brett Williams provides a sobering and frank investigation of the credit industry and how it came to dominate the lives of most Americans by propelling the social changes that are enacted when an economy is based on debt. Williams argues that credit and debt act to obscure, reproduce, and exacerbate other inequalities. It is in the best interest of the banks, corporations, and their shareholders to keep consumer debt at high levels. By targeting low-income and young people who would not be eligible for credit in other businesses, these companies are able quickly to gain a stranglehold on the finances of millions. Throughout, Williams provides firsthand accounts of how Americans from all socioeconomic levels use credit. These vignettes complement the history and technical issues of the credit industry, including strategies people use to manage debt, how credit functions in their lives, how they understand their own indebtedness, and the sometimes tragic impact of massive debt on people’s lives.

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• Used Book in Good Condition

Winner of the Margaret Mead Award of the Society for Applied Anthropology

The farm crisis of the 1980s was the worst economic disaster to strike rural America since the Depression—thousands of farmers lost their land and homes, irrevocably altering their communities and, as Kathryn Marie Dudley shows, giving rise to devastating social trauma that continues to affect farmers today. Through interviews with residents of an agricultural county in western Minnesota, Dudley provides an incisive account of the moral dynamics of loss, dislocation, capitalism, and solidarity in farming communities.

Money- it’s a word no one can feel neutral about. Authors and money-management experts Lyle and Tracy Shamo say, “Like it or not, meeting basic needs has nothing to do with poverty and everything to do with how well we manage our money.” In this practical guidebook, the authors will help you take control of your money, teaching you how to pay off your debt-including your mortgage and car loans- and stay out of debt. Advanced computer software (included on a CD-ROM that comes with the book) will help you assess your financial status, learn more about where your money is going and discover how to channel it to the right places.

“The Story of the Stone” (c. 1760), also known by the title of “The Dream of the Red Chamber”, is the great novel of manners in Chinese literature. Divided into five volumes, of which “The Debt of Tears” is the fourth, it charts the glory and decline of the illustrious Jia family (a story which closely accords with the fortunes of the author’s own family). The two main characters, Bao-yu and Dai-yu, are set against a rich tapestry of humour, realistic detail and delicate poetry, which accurately reflects the ritualized hurly-burly of Chinese family life. But over and above the novel hangs the constant reminder that there is another plane of existence a theme, which affirms the Buddhist belief in a supernatural scheme of things.

With a hands-on approach that includes case studies and learn-by-doing exercises, this new text builds a critical bridge between simply understanding bankruptcy concepts and employing them confidently, like an experienced paralegal. Broad coverage includes basic bankruptcy, debt creation, secured transactions, the law of liens, and debt collection.

Practical, accessible, and timely, The ABCs of Debt features:

Learning-by-doing exercises, problems, and hypotheticals that bring a strong hands-on, skill-building component to any study of bankruptcy law Broad yet succinct coverage of basic bankruptcy and related topics, such as debt creation, debt collection, and the discharge or reorganization of debt in bankruptcy A clear, readable format that facilitates understanding Realistic case studies that encourage students to apply new concepts Examples throughout the text that make abstract principles concrete Case excerpts and summaries that link theory to doctrine Thought-provoking ethical queries that raise issues arising in practice Key terms and review questions in every chapter that aid study and review

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• Used Book in Good Condition

Get your finances under control now. Feel the peace of knowing your checkbook is balanced and in the black. Relish the bliss of paying your bills on time and savor the power when you have a savings and are in control of your spending.

No more sleepless nights wondering how you are going to pay your bills. No more beating yourself up for unconscious spending, hiding receipts and credit card statements. No more needing approval from others. No more worrying when it comes to money. Pam’s fun-to-use tools and exercises will soon be helping you tackle your money problems. Learn the secret, thought-provoking weapon she used to free herself of $26,000 in credit card debt.

You’ll instantly want to use it every day to stop sabotaging your good intentions toward your finances as well as other areas of your life. This humorous book was written to entertain you while Pam helps you grow into a financially mature adult. It is her prayer that you’ll be laughing all the way to the bank and to financial happiness while you bring your family right along.

Pam Young created this book to help you in these difficult times. By marrying The GOOD Book:Get Out Of Debt ©2008 Pamela I. Young with Flylady’s FACETM Journal, in a very short time you will bring your finances under control AND have fun doing it.

In The Gift of Freedom, Mimi Thi Nguyen develops a new understanding of contemporary United States empire and its self-interested claims to provide for others the advantage of human freedom. Bringing together critiques of liberalism with postcolonial approaches to the modern cartography of progress, Nguyen proposes “the gift of freedom” as the name for those forces that avow to reverence aliveness and beauty, and to govern an enlightened humanity, while producing new subjects and actions—such as a grateful refugee, or enduring war—in an age of liberal empire. From the Cold War to the global war on terror, the United States simultaneously promises the gift of freedom through war and violence and administers the debt that follows. Focusing here on the figure of the Vietnamese refugee as the twice-over target of the gift of freedom—first through war, second through refuge—Nguyen suggests that the imposition of debt precludes the subjects of freedom from escaping those colonial histories that deemed them “unfree.” To receive the gift of freedom then is to be indebted to empire, perhaps without end.