Reviews
Charles R. Geisst, an investment banker and professor, combines scholarship and a practitioner's eye to analyse the nineteenth-century origins of "loan sharking," as prevalent today as it was when the term was coined in the 1880s.-- Times Literary Supplement, Loan Sharks recounts the fascinating history of America's undeclared and ill-defined war on usury and loan sharking from the late nineteenth century through the Great Depression. Geisst gives us a well-documented intellectual history of the struggle with the nation's predatory lenders and their effects on American life, weaving our current and ongoing debate over consumer lending through a larger narrative of the history of American monetary policy and banking regulation. --Brian M. McCall, Associate Dean and Orpha and Maurice Merrill Professor in Law, University of Oklahoma In Loan Sharks , Charles Geisst takes us on a vivid, detailed historical tour of the "gangsters and bankers" that "had more in common than their desire for gain." Probing the moral, political, and financial repercussions of usury from the Civil War to the Great Depression, Geisst expertly reveals the extent to which the extortion of high loan interest from those in society least able to afford the burden exemplifies a rigged and sinister market place and must be thwarted as such. Those themes held as true then as they do today. --Nomi Prins, author, All the Presidents' Bankers, Perhaps the world's oldest economic problem, predatory lending has roots as far back as the Old Testament and continues still today. As Geisst explains, loans have always been necessary for some sectors of society, namely those desperately in need. The truly destructive aspect of loan sharking is the extremely high, often unpayable interest rates. Geisst carefully and meticulously outlines the practice of loan sharking from the earliest days of the colonies to the Great Depression. Any reader interested in economic history will enjoy Geisst's attention to detail, along with his observations about the ties between predatory lending and major economic and social events. Loan Sharks is an interesting microhistory of this terrible aspect of banking, highlighting an issue often overlooked by politicians, despite its deep roots in American society.--Seth Emry, Booklist, Loan Sharks recounts the fascinating history of America's undeclared and ill-defined war on usury and loan sharking from the late nineteenth century through the Great Depression. Geisst gives us a well-documented intellectual history of the struggle with the nation's predatory lenders and their effects on American life, weaving our current and ongoing debate over consumer lending through a larger narrative of the history of American monetary policy and banking regulation. Brian M. McCall, Associate Dean and Orpha and Maurice Merrill Professor in Law, University of Oklahoma In Loan Sharks, Charles Geisst takes us on a vivid, detailed historical tour of the "gangsters and bankers" that "had more in common than their desire for gain." Probing the moral, political, and financial repercussions of usury from the Civil War to the Great Depression, Geisst expertly reveals the extent to which the extortion of high loan interest from those in society least able to afford the burden exemplifies a rigged and sinister market place and must be thwarted as such. Those themes held as true then as they do today. Nomi Prins, author, All the Presidents' Bankers Perhaps the world's oldest economic problem, predatory lending has roots as far back as the Old Testament and continues still today. As Geisst explains, loans have always been necessary for some sectors of society, namely those desperately in need. The truly destructive aspect of loan sharking is the extremely high, often unpayable interest rates. Geisst carefully and meticulously outlines the practice of loan sharking from the earliest days of the colonies to the Great Depression. Any reader interested in economic history will enjoy Geisst's attention to detail, along with his observations about the ties between predatory lending and major economic and social events. Loan Sharks is an interesting microhistory of this terrible aspect of banking, highlighting an issue often overlooked by politicians, despite its deep roots in American society. -- Seth Emery * Booklist *
