Contents

Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter i
2. Acknowledgments vii
3. Contents ix
4. Introduction 1
5. 1. Mercantile Credit in Britain and America, 1700–1860 13
6. 2. A “System of Espionage”: The Origins of the Credit-Reporting Firm 36
7. 3. Character, Capacity, Capital: How to Be Creditworthy 80
8. 4. Jewish Merchants and the Struggle over Transparency 119
9. 5. Growth, Competition, Legitimacy: Credit Reporting in the Late Nineteenth Century 139
10. 6. From Competition to Cooperation: The Birth of the Credit Man, 1890–1920 174
11. Epilogue: Business Credit Reporting in the Twenty-First Century 201
12. Notes 211
13. Index 269