Work

Indebted: The Entanglement of the Political and Financial Elite and the Origins of the Gilded Age

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Why did the United States return to the gold standard in 1879, and why did the ensuing Gilded Age feature a high level of financial instability? While existing scholarship adopts an economic development model of monetary policy that emphasizes material interests in explaining government retrenchment during Reconstruction, this paper argues that the confluence of state interests in cheap borrowing and financial elites' interest in debt monetization led to the outsourcing of monetary policy and the financial instability of the Gilded Age.

Source: Studies in American Political Development

DOI: 10.1017/s0898588x2510031x

Author: David Martin

Institution: Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

Language: English

Topic: Monetary Policy and Economic Impact

Subfield: General Economics, Econometrics and Finance

Field: Economics, Econometrics and Finance

Domain: Social Sciences

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,550

OpenAlex ID: W7127894507