"Graeber’s Debt: The First Five Thousand Years [...] Large parts of the book could better be called Commerce: The First 5,000 Years or Exchange: The First 5,000 Years."

"A provocative paper by Brent White, a law professor at the University of Arizona, makes the case that borrowers are actually suffering from a “norm asymmetry.” In other words, they think they are obligated to repay their loans even if it is not in their financial interest to do so, while their lenders are free to do whatever maximizes profits. It’s as if borrowers are playing in a poker game in which they are the only ones who think bluffing is unethical. "

"The paper by Brent T. White is ”Underwater and Not Walking Away: Shame, Fear and the Social Management of the Housing Crisis"

"This would correct a prevailing imbalance: homeowners operate under a “powerful moral constraint” while lenders are busily trying to maximize profits. More important, it might get the system unstuck."

"When you owe the bank $1 million, the bank has got you; when you owe the bank $1 billion, you've got the bank." ... "America is sure to remain a leader in cultural power, but there is a difference between being a cultural leader and an easy, almost un-self-conscious cultural dominance. ... But no matter how creative its creative people become, as in the realms of economic and political power, America is unlikely to remain the cultural hegemon, the overwhelmingly dominant source of cultural memes."