Books
Alexander Hamilton on Finance, Credit, and Debt
— March 6, 2018

By Richard Sylla and David J. Cowen
Professor Sylla and co-author center Hamilton's writings on finance among his most important accomplishments, making his brilliance as an economic policy maker accessible to all interested in this Founding Father's legacy.
By Richard Sylla and David J. Cowen
“Alexander Hamilton on Finance, Credit, and Debt” by Professor Richard Sylla and co-author traces the development of Hamilton's financial thinking, policies, and actions through a selection of his writings. The authors provide commentary that demonstrates the impact Hamilton had on the modern economic system, guiding readers through Hamilton's distinguished career. The book showcases Hamilton’s thoughts on the nation's founding, the need for a strong central government, confronting problems such as a depreciating paper currency and weak public credit, and the architecture of the financial system. His great state papers on public credit, the national bank, the mint, and manufactures instructed reform of the nation’s finances and jump-started economic growth. Hamilton practiced what he preached: he played a key role in the founding of three banks and a manufacturing corporation, and his deft political maneuvering and economic savvy saved the fledgling republic's economy during the country's first full-blown financial crisis in 1792. Professor Sylla and co-author center Hamilton's writings on finance among his most important accomplishments, making his brilliance as an economic policy maker accessible to all interested in this Founding Father's legacy.