Includes bibliographical references and index. ; Part One: Historical and Statistical -- I. What is Instalment Selling? -- 1. Instalment Selling as a Form of Credit -- 2. Instalment Credit in Public Transactions -- 3. Instalment Credit in Private Transactions -- II. History of Modern Instalment Selling -- 1. Early High-Grade Instalment Business -- 2. Low-Grade Instalment Business -- 3. Origin of Automobile Instalment Selling -- 4. Development of the Finance Company -- 5. Spread of Instalment Selling to Other Commodities -- III. The Methods of Instalment Credit -- 1. Relation of the Purchaser to the Dealer -- 2. Relation of the Dealer to the Finance Company -- 3. Relations to the Manufacturer to the Dealer and to the Finance Company -- 4. Relations to the Finance Company to the Banker and to the General Public -- IV. The Extent of the Instalment Selling -- 1. Volume of Retail Sales -- 2. Instalment Sales in the Minor Industries -- 3. Instalment Sales of Automotives, Furniture and Jewerly -- 4. Conclusions -- Part Two: Analytical -- V. Introductory: The Approach to the Subject -- 1. Current Opinions -- 2. The Problem -- 3. The Methods of Attack -- Book I. The Nature and the Charactistics of Instalment Credit -- VI. Instalment Credit and Consumption Credit -- 1. Instalment Credit as a Part of Consumption Credit -- 2. Instalment Credit as a Stage in the Evolution Credit -- VII. The Nature of Consumption Credit -- 1. What is Capital? -- 2. The Nature of Production -- 3. The Nature of Consumption -- 4. Productive and Unproductive Consumption -- VIII. Some General Tendencies of Consumption Credit -- 1. The Problem -- 2. Clothing and Furniture -- 3. Jewery and Hardware -- 4. Conclusions -- IX. The Specific Characteristics of Instalment Credit -- 1. Differences in the Commodities -- 2. Differences in the Conditions -- 3. Repossessions -- X. Luxuries and Necessaries -- 1. The Older View of Luxury -- 2. The Newer Attitude -- 3. Conclulsions -- XI. The Nature of the Automobile -- 1. Is the Automobile Destructive or ...