With the creation of methods to calculate interest and record transactions, along came debt. Debt was a powerful motivator in early times. It was used to make people work harder and be more efficient. Crop yields of farmers in debt were significantly higher than those without debt. If farmers could not pay back their loans, …
Now that financial agreements could be recorded, people wanted to be repaid. At first it was considered inappropriate to receive anything more than the original sum lent. Before long, however, the value of money in relation to time was discovered. Ancient merchants quickly learned that the loss of capital led to lost profits. The Sumerians …
The Beginning The credit and debt system began before the written word. Approximately 9,000 years ago man invented counting tokens to keep track of trades and obligations. In fact, the art of writing was invented to record our financial dealings. Keeping Track While the early counting tokens may have been a form of money, we …
Main Collection Keeping Track Interest Very Early Debtors Early Regulations of Interest and Credit First Real Coins – Cattle Are Heavy The Pilgrims Money, Credit and Debt When Did The Dollar Arrive? How Did We Get The $ Symbol Debtors’ Prison When Did Credit As We Know It Arrive In The U.S. Early Sources of …
By Steve Rhode Many believe we live in a time when our creditors force us into money troubles. When we find ourselves with a debt burden, the common lament is that we are victims of moneylenders, payday loan outfits, credit card companies and financing scams. But is that true? To blame our current debt woes …