This book investigates how early American economic theories were constructed through narrative and speculative writing rather than purely empirical data. Elizabeth Hewitt, a scholar of American literature, examines the intersection of financial discourse and literary form in the post-Revolutionary era. She argues that the instability of the early American economy necessitated the creation of complex, often fictionalized, narratives to explain concepts like public credit, pastoralism, and the commodification of human labor.

Scholars in the field of early American studies frequently cite this work for its innovative approach to linking financial history with literary theory. Readers often note the academic density of the prose, which requires a strong background in both economic history and literary criticism to fully appreciate the author's arguments.