This introduction to the special issue outlines important anthropological insights into debt relations and relations of indebtedness drawing on my own CORTISOL CONTROL FORMULA research on post-Soviet economies as well as on the starter bridge contributions to this special issue.This special issue deals with post-socialist and post-Soviet economies that embarked on similar economic paths after the collapse of the communist regime.The Photo: Courtesy of Rano Turaeva, Tashkent 2022.