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Robert E. Wright

One Nation Under Debt: Hamilton, Jefferson, and the History of What We Owe Hardcover – Illustrated, March 12, 2008

by Robert Wright (Author)

3.6 16 ratings

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Like its current citizens, the United States was born in debt-a debt so deep that it threatened to destroy the young nation. Thomas Jefferson considered the national debt a monstrous fraud on posterity, while Alexander Hamilton believed debt would help America prosper. Both, as it turns out, were right.

One Nation Under Debt explores the untold history of America's first national debt, which arose from the immense sums needed to conduct the American Revolution. Noted economic historian Robert Wright, Ph.D. tells in riveting narrative how a subjugated but enlightened people cast off a great tyrant-“but their liberty, won with promises as well as with the blood of patriots, came at a high price.” He brings to life the key events that shaped the U.S. financial system and explains how the actions of our forefathers laid the groundwork for the debt we still carry today.

As an economically tenuous nation by Revolution's end, America's people struggled to get on their feet. Wright outlines how the formation of a new government originally reduced the nation's debt-but, as debt was critical to this government's survival, it resurfaced, to be beaten back once more. Wright then reveals how political leaders began accumulating massive new debts to ensure their popularity, setting the financial stage for decades to come.

Wright traces critical evolutionary developments-from Alexander Hamilton's creation of the nation's first modern capital market, to the use of national bonds to further financial goals, to the drafting of state constitutions that created non-predatory governments. He shows how, by the end of Andrew Jackson's administration, America's financial system was contributing to national growth while at the same time new national and state debts were amassing, sealing the fate for future generations.

Print length

256 pages
Language

English
Publisher

McGraw Hill
Publication date

March 12, 2008
Dimensions

6.5 x 1.36 x 9.1 inches
ISBN-10

0071543937
ISBN-13

978-0071543934
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Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Robert E. Wright is the Rudy and Marlyn Nef Family Chair of Political Economy in the Division of Social Sciences at Augustana College and is a curator for the Museum of American Finance. He is the author of scores of articles, entries, reviews, and chapters, and has authored or coauthored nine books. Wright has written for Barron's, the Chronicle of Higher Education, Forbes.com, and other prominent publications, and has appeared on NPR, C-SPAN, and the BBC.

From the Back Cover

The Untold History of America's First Debt and its Relevance in Today's Economy

"Wright tackles the thorny question of what makes countries wealthy through the lens of a U.S. addiction: government indebtedness."
-Simon Constable, TheStreet.com

"Think that our burgeoning national debt is something new? We've been down this road before. One Nation Under Debt traces the roots of today's looming fiscal crisis back to the birth of the republic and shows how the founding fathers averted financial Armageddon."
-William Bernstein

"This is economic history both high and low-from Alexander Hamilton, the wizard who put America's finances in order, to the men and women who secured America's future by buying its bonds."
-Richard Brookhiser

"This book is magnetic. Wright regales us with the bankers and merchants, slaveholders and bondholders, and pen-named politicians of the Early Republic."
-James W. Mueller, Ph.D., Chief Historian, Independence National Historical Park

"If I could write like Wright, I would be thrilled. Some passages in the book are stunning--almost poetic. For anyone interested in the evolution of the U.S. economy and its early financial system, the first six chapters of this book are essential. Wright makes his point: under skilled management (e.g., Hamilton), debt is good for deepening capital markets, but incurred excessively to finance wars or inappropriate government expenditures, it can eventually prove disastrous."
-Richard Vietor, Harvard Business School, Journal of American History

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ McGraw Hill; 1st edition (March 12, 2008)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 256 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0071543937
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0071543934
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.64 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.5 x 1.36 x 9.1 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #2,168,216 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #476 in Public Finance (Books)
- #4,345 in U.S. Revolution & Founding History
- #4,464 in Economic History (Books)

Customer Reviews:
3.6 16 ratings

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Robert E. Wright

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Robert E. Wright is Senior Faculty Fellow at the American Institute for Economic Research.

https://www.aier.org/staffs/robert-e-wright/

https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=D9Qsx6QAAAAJ

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3792-3506

Customer reviews

3.6 out of 5

16 global ratings

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2 star		12%
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Top reviews from the United States

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Metallurgist

An interesting history of the early US national debt

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on April 6, 2012

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With all of the talk these days of the size of the US national debt it is nice to read a cogent history of how the US handled the national debt that originated from the Revolutionary War and the period up to 1836. Why stop in 1836 - that was when the US paid off its debt and for the first and last time became debt free. The book covers all aspects of this debt, who loaned the US colonies money, who was paid in the continentals that became a major part of the debt, who bought US bonds and how did the US raise the money to pay off the debt. The book also addresses why some nations can progress to prosperity, while others do not. All are subjects of this careful, academic, but charmingly written book. Professor Wright has a nice colloquial style that makes a highly academic subject very readable.

The book concentrates on Alexander Hamilton, the first Sec. of the Treasury and his financial system, a system that laid the financial underpinnings of the US and led to the elimination of its first national debt. The question of taxation is covered as well as the formation of the first and second banks of the United States. While a history of debt, the book does not neglect our current debt crisis. The last chapter describes how our current debt is not only so immensely larger than previous debt, but how it is different and infinitely more dangerous. The book ends with an appendix of 47 pages of tables and graphs describing sources of revenue and who held the debt prior to 1836.

4 people found this helpful

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Maicol

unreadable

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 3, 2012

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This reads like propaganda. The author has the annoying habit of supporting his argument with anecdotes, so every other paragraph you get cherry-picked quotes from the 18th or 19th century which "prove" the author's point (and also demonstrate how widely-read the author is). To me this type of writing is unbearable. You may disagree, but I would suggest that before you buy, you at least use the page-preview capability to see if this writing is for you. For an example of fine writing see L. Ahamed.

3 people found this helpful

Helpful

John J. Bernardi

Disappointed

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on February 18, 2013

Verified Purchase

I was mislead into buying this book. Considering all that's happening these days with the national debt, I wanted to learn about why the national debt was created. That's how this book was advertised. Instead, I found a tedious tome that dedicated 20% to my interest and 80% to minute trivia of the American history that surrounded the creation of the national debt. I got about 1/3 through the Kindle version and archived it, never to be opened again. Wish I could find a nice synopsis about the history of the national debt.

4 people found this helpful

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Ralph Kwiatkowski

Four Stars

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 1, 2016

Verified Purchase

This book is for a future class this fall.

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J. Reid

Things we should all know.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on October 5, 2012

Verified Purchase

This book should be the basis of a high school senior class in economics. The math and the history would be beneficial to all rising adults. (It wouldn't hurt the rest off the population that call themselves adults either.)

One person found this helpful

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Terry Jennrich

Government Debt in the beginning vs NOW!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 22, 2012

At times, this book became ponderous to read, but overall it was both enjoyable and very informative. It describes how our country financed its creation and how the early founding fathers through the administration of Andrew Jackson managed and sometimes mismanged the U.S. finances. We as a nation need to remember the lessons of thrift and controlling public spending and borrowing in the 21st century.
Why have the voters not elected more true patriots to Congress in the 21st century, when we need them most. I am referring to tea party types who would vote to decrease the size of the federal government, fire federal employees and terminate federal programs?
Hamilton offered us : an adequate supply of cash with the creation of the first Bank of the United States, a stable unit of account--the dollar, low interest rates, low taxes, and security of life, liberty, and property. And there existed in the 1790's entreprenurial gusto and economic opportunity aplenty in the inhabitants of the early united states. Despite Jefferson and Madison's fears, it was Hamilton's economic plan that worked well and breathed life into the new country! [p151]
I also agree with the Dr. Wright's idea of the 'development diamond' The author described the development diamond as being : the Constitution of 1787, the first national debt paid off in 1834, the financial system the first and second Banks of the United States, the various entrepreneurs and the rise of professional business manangers that spurred American economic growth from 1780-1857.
Terry Jennrich

4 people found this helpful

Helpful

Dennis S. Edwards

Economics and history perfectly mixed

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 16, 2008

Dr. Wright's presentation of the nation's first national debt is both engrossing and informative. Perhaps it is his background as an historian, but regardless, his presentation of economics is straightforward and makes for a good read from the layperson's point of view.

Wright shows Alexander Hamilton as the genius that he truly was. While critics of Hamilton tend to focus on his behind-the-scenes machinations during the 1800 election, Wright allows Hamilton's financial wizardry (which should be this founder's true legacy) to shine. Indeed, Hamilton grasped that a national debt and the eventual assumption of states' debts was necessary not only for the new nation to survive practically, but to maintain its international public credit.

I would recommend reading this book in concert with John Miller's biography on Alexander Hamilton, Portrait in Paradox. Both authors show that Hamilton was well ahead of his time.

The chapters read easily, with an early focus on the Dutch and English international finance models of the early and late 18th century. The chapter entitled "Life," which concentrates on a few individual Virgina debt holders, is also engrossing. Wright spotlights the stories of a few individual patriots to show that these debtholders were just as vital to the nation, with their willingness to take a chance on the early United States, as was both France and Holland in their initial financing of the War of Independence.

All in all, a great read.

Dr. Dennis Edwards
Associate Professor of Economics

20 people found this helpful

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

Milo di Thernan

Good knowledge inspires

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on August 16, 2010

Verified Purchase

Given today's financial and economic mess, there are at least two valuable lessons that this book leaves you with. The first, which harnesses the author's thinking on his so-called development diamond, is that entrepreneurs (who invest in risky ventures) or managers (who take risks to grow established businesses) will never invest to grow when government is weak and financial institutions are under assault. Weak government always seeks scapegoats, rampaging through everybody's presumed property rights as it seeks fresh sources of taxation. Why take any risk in an uncertain taxation environment? And financial institutions paralysed with the fear of fresh regulation will not lend to any risk taker anyway, given uncertain capital and liquidity requirements. Consequently there is neither private sector credit demand nor supply and no prospect of growing our way out of the western world's sovereign debt:GDP spiral.

When there are so many self-publicising talking heads on TV offering opinions, but no solutions, it is immensely valuable to read a book that offers you a framework for thinking for yourself.

Especially when this hypothesis is examined in the context of the birth of the American monetary system. Which introduces the second valuable lesson. As the early confederate currency hardships show, there is no need to distinguish between the US dollar bill (the IOU in your wallet) and the US long bond (the IOU in your 401K) when the banking system is being contracted by widespread private sector debt repayment. In such an environment, central bank attempts to reverse the contraction of bank balance sheets, through quantitative monetary efforts that replace dollar bonds in bankers' hands with dollar bills (or its modern equivalent - bankers' reserve balances with the central bank) are to be welcomed. Economically inert dollar bonds exit and economically productive (they might be lent out!) dollar bills enter the financial system. A liquidity trap can then be avoided.

Serious students of this financial crisis - any anybody who reads the other journalistic books has to be regarded as serious - will find this as accessible and much more valuable than the best-sellers. It is factual interpretation on which you can build.

One person found this helpful

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