Public debt, inequality, and power : the making of a modern debt state / Sandy Brian Hager.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Hager, Sandy Brian, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Debts, Public--United States.

Debts, Public.

United States.

Government securities--United States.

Government securities.

Physical Description:

xiv, 157 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Oakland, California : University of California Press, [2016]

Summary:

"Who are the dominant owners of US public debt? Is it widely held, or concentrated in the hands of a few? Does ownership of public debt give these bondholders power over our government? What do we make of the fact that foreign-owned debt has ballooned to nearly 50 percent today? Until now, we have not had any satisfactory answers to these questions. Public Debt, Inequality, and Power is the first comprehensive historical analysis of public debt ownership in the United States. It reveals that ownership of federal bonds has been increasingly concentrated in the hands of the 1 percent over the last three decades. Based on extensive and original research, Public Debt, Inequality, and Power will shock and enlighten"--Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Introduction : public debt, inequality, and power

The spectacle of a highly centralized public debt

The bondholding class resurgent

Fiscal conflict : past and present

Bonding domestic and foreign owners

Who rules the debt state?

Conclusion : informing democratic debate

Appendix : accounting for the public debt.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 123-151) and index.

Other Format:

Online version: Hager, Sandy Brian, author. Public debt, inequality, and power.

ISBN:

9780520284661

0520284666

OCLC:

926061400