Michael Hudson on the History of Debt from the Middle Ages to the Present

In the Middle Ages, merchants were looked down upon and even the Catholic Church saw usury as among the worst sins. In the 19th century industrial capitalists made their profits on infrastructure and methods of harnessing energy.

But the 20th century with its two world wars and the rise of finance capital saw profits made from military capital and fictitious capital. Today Mordor prints money and the state is 35 trillion dollars in debt.  Michael Hudson’s new book traces the history of debt from the Middle Ages to the present.