Louis Hyman

Raised in Baltimore, Maryland, Louis Hyman attended Columbia University, where he received a B.A. in History and Mathematics. He is currently an assistant professor in the Labor Relations, Law, and History department at the ILR school of Cornell University. Professor Hyman's research focuses on the history of American capitalism, particularly the intersection of the government and the market in everyday economic practice.

A former Fulbright scholar and McKinsey consultant, Hyman received his Ph.D. in American history in 2007 from Harvard University. His dissertation received the Harold K. Gross Prize for best dissertation in history at Harvard and the Krooss prize for best dissertation in business history nationally. His first book, Debtor Nation: The History of America in Red Ink (2011), focused on the history of the political economy of debt and was selected as one of the 2011 Choice Top 25 Outstanding Books of the Year. His second book, Borrow: The American Way of Debt (2012), explained how American culture shaped finance and in turn how finance shaped culture. His writings have appeared in The New York Times, The Atlantic, Wilson Quarterly, Bloomberg, CNBC, and other newspapers, journals, and blogs, as well as essay collections. He is the founding editor of the Columbia Studies in the History of U.S. Capitalism book series from Columbia University Press.