Summary Of Hamilton's Blessing

Gordon 's premise in Hamilton 's Blessing is that the national debt can be used positively in order to boost the economy of a country like the United States. In the book, Gordon uses economic history and theory to examine the start, rise and decline of the United States debt. The author opens his book by stating that this country was born in debt, and this debt has become so high that concerned individuals no longer think about it. Hamilton 's Blessing charts the history of the national debt since when the central bank of the United States was founded in 1971, up to modern days. The intellectual architect of this creation was Alexander Hamilton, the first Treasury Secretary as well as a central figure who had a deep impact on the economic

All through his book Gordon explains how the debt has influenced and shaped the history of America economy. Hamilton wanted to reshape the American economy, thus he proposed the virtues of the national debt claiming that when it is limited it may be a national blessing. While providing the audience with a history of the American debt, Gordon aims at proving Hamilton 's beliefs. Indeed, the author wants to show that if the debt is used wisely, it may turn out to be a useful political and economic instrument. To support the assertion that the budget deficit is not necessarily evil, he includes different events of the American history. Thus, he claims that the national debt was crucial to victory during the Civil War, and it also helped the nation raise out of the Great Depression. In the light of these considerations, Gordon can only hope that the national debt may help the nation achieve a similar aim over the following

The creation of the first bank in the United States prompted a political debate which started in 1791, and went on in the following years. Hamilton’s plan foresaw a bank provided with special powers and privileges, which gave birth to a wide opposition. Although Hamilton 's idea continues to exist in today’s economic environment, at that time his proposal was met with widespread resistance from individuals such as James Madison and Thomas Jefferson, who considered the creation of a federal bank as unconstitutional. Following to a broad interpretation of the Constitution, Hamilton argued that in order to have an effective bank, Congress should be provided with all the powers required. Jefferson disagreed with Hamilton, and claimed that the establishment of such a bank was not consistent with the powers that the Constitution granted to Congress. “Both Jefferson’s and Hamilton’s arguments were based on the Constitution’s Preamble, the “elastic clause” ( Article I, Section 8, clause 18), and Amendment X. The elastic clause gave Congress the right to make laws “necessary and proper” to carry out other powers given to Congress”.---source that explains how the central bank was a new idea for that time (maybe can write how there where many opposers such as James Madison)--- cerca di prenderla da un libro