> The neglected British economist Henry Dunning MacLeod wrote in his Principles of Economic Philosophy (1872): ‘If we were asked – Who made the discovery which has most deeply affected the fortunes of the human race? We think, after full consideration, we might safely answer – The man who first discovered that a Debt is a Saleable Commodity.’ > Debt is not a good or service but a promise. Exchanges of promissory notes involve the purchase of a promise, and originally this was not recognized as a valid contract in law: the selling of debt was not sanctioned by legal recognition of the transfer of the obligation to its purchaser. Major legislative changes were necessary to make this possible. --- **Source** Hodgson, Geoffrey M. “Conceptualizing Capitalism:,” n.d., 6.