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*from* *America's First Great Depression* *by Alasdair Roberts.* In the 1830s, corporations and states went on a borrowing binge to finance the construction of new railroads and canals, the "internal improvements" endorsed by the emerging Whig Party (including a young Abraham Lincoln). However, far more railroads and canals were built than were needed, generally financed using bonds sold to British and other European investors. By the late 1830s, these bonds were starting to go into default and a panic had begun. As European losses mounted, one member of the Rothschild banking family called America "the most blasted & the most stinking country in the world": "In 1839, Daniel Webster had assured British investors that no state would risk the 'penalty of honor and disgrace' by defaulting on their bonds. Now nine governments, responsible for two-thirds of all the American government debt in private hands, were routinely missing interest payments, attempting to sidestep creditors, or flatly repudiating their obligations. Across the Atlantic, investors were outraged. Yankee Doodle borrows cash, Yankee Doodle spends it, And then he snaps his fingers at The jolly flat who lends it. Ask him when he means to pay, He shews no hesitation, But says he'll take the shortest way, And that's repudiation! (*Literary Gazette*, London, January 1845) http://www.delanceyplace.com/view-archives.php?p=3242 _________________________________________________________ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
