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Financing the American Dream subtitled "A Cultural History of American Credit," takes a hard look at the effect that consumer credit facilities have on the social values in modern American culture. The author, an assistant professor of history at Augustana College in Rock Island, Ill., and the featured speaker at ABI's annual NCBJ luncheon (see p. 1), investigates whether the increasing role of consumer credit as a means to facilitate consumer spending has changed America's traditional work ethic.
Others who have reviewed the book give it high marks for content and style. Prof. Calder writes clearly and with a lot of energy while presenting the rise of the use of credit in America from the 1890s to the present. His thesis is that Americans see having access to credit facilities, primarily credit cards, as a right-- indeed, a necessity.
Consider a person on an average day. He or she gets up in the morning, removes pajamas purchased at Saks Fifth Avenue with a Mastercard, showers using...