Before the twentieth century, personal debt sat at the margins of the American economy. By century's end, lending to consumers had become central to the country's most profitable financial institutions.
Debtor Nation traces how debt moved from fringe practice to mainstream structure through federal policy, financial innovation, and retail competition.
The book asks how banks began large-scale consumer lending during the Great Depression, why the government developed mortgage-backed securities, and how consumer credit became tax-advantaged and normalized. It follows debt from car financing to subprime lending and shows how little loans became big business.
