American economies are hotly and controversially debated both within the United States and abroad. While most discussions focus exclusively on financial resources, this volume takes a more comprehensive approach, analysing interrelations between financial and cultural capital in different historical contexts and from a variety of perspectives. It addresses the 2008 financial crisis as well as representations of economics in literary texts and films, the usage of metaphors in economic theory, opportunities for interdisciplinary dialogues between economics and cultural studies, and the complex intersections of economics and aesthetics. Topics discussed range from piratical economies in seventeenth century literature to ecology and economics in recent movies, gentrification, and economics and health. With its readings of financial, narrative, libidinal and visual economies, the collection offers a broad spectrum of critical engagements with American economies both past and present.