Debt in service of the state -- States and the limits of borrowing -- Democratization and globalization -- Caveat emptor -- Managing problem debts -- Successful consolidation -- Warfare to welfare -- Cycles of debt -- Oil and water -- Missed opportunities -- Debt to the rescue -- COVID-19.

In contemporary American political discourse, issues related to the scope, authority, and the cost of the federal government are perennially at the center of discussion. Any historical analysis of this topic points directly to the Great Depression, the "moment" to which most historians and...