The Birth of the Modern American Debt Collector
In the 19th century, farm loans changed from a matter between associates into an impersonal, bureaucratic exchange.
How Credit Reporting Agencies Got Their Power
Early credit reporting companies urged people to “Treat their credit as a sacred trust” and argued that keeping a good credit record was a moral concern.
Debtors’ Prisons, Class, and Patriotism in 18th Century Ireland
In a paper for Eighteenth-Century Ireland, Martyn J. Powell discusses the politics that seem to have limited the use of debtors' prisons in Ireland.