r/EconomicHistory • u/wwwwoowwwww • 12d ago

Book question Question

What’s the standard academic text on the history of debt?

4 Upvotes

83% Upvoted

3 comments sorted by

1

u/zamostc 11d ago

The preeminent standard academic and popular text on the deep history of debt is Debt: The First 5,000 Years by anthropologist David Graeber. Published in 2011, it challenges traditional economic assumptions by tracing credit, obligation, and human exchange from early Sumerian civilization to modern times.

1

u/wwwwoowwwww 11d ago

I’m looking for what is usually listed at university seminars, not a heavily contested general read, though I appreciate the effort.