I Owe, I Owe: Debt in America
It seems like everyone owes money these days. But two hundred years ago, debt was considered not simply an economic failing, but a moral one. It could even land you in prison! In this hour, we look at how debt became the American way of life. Economic historian Louis Hyman argues that you and I aren’t to blame for our financial straits. We also hear from Thomas Jefferson, who, thanks to poor planning and a penchant for French furniture, died over $100,000 in the hole.
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FYI, I bought my first home in 1968 in Southern California. My wife was working and we had no children. The loan companies would NOT count my wifes wages because she was of “child bearing age” We had to purchase the home and accquire the loan soley on my wages as a telephone installer. My brother-in-law got a Visa card in the late 50′s.
I know it is not “PC” but when women’s right were changed in the 70′s the price of homes went up because the wife’s wage were count.
Just a thought.
Quote@PHQUE,
“PC?” I can see nothing hostile in your post.
And I can understand the loan company. –
But, from a “macro” point of view, this means that men and women share the economical “costs” of childbirth when buying a house. (Or, at least, a step in that direction.) Previously, these costs were more burdensome to women (for example, their income and their chances incorporated that “risk.”
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