Jubilee Year

Monetizing the Debt: Explanation For Non-Economists, Bankers and Other Laymen

And thus, the Baby Boomers destroy that last remaining legacy of the great country they inherited: the strength of the dollar. Flooding it with third world laborers and outsourcing its industrial capacity apparently weren't enough.

They also seem more than happy to enslave their offspring to support their old age, though debt and social security.

Truly, they are the most wicked generation in history.

On Bubbles and Depressions

The only solution to debt deflation is widespread debt write-downs and write-offs.

Or we can watch our economy grind itself down to nothing.

Your choice. It's about time you realized you had a choice though, as few people seem to realize it.

Quantitative Easing and the Disappearance of Income

The debt doesn't really hamper future generations. It is actually a form of taxation in effect today, by diluting the value of our current money.

Doug Casey: What to Do in 'The Greater Depression'

Dean, you said, "Forget economics, if we 'hired' the debt, then we have a moral obligation to pay it. "

But "we" did not hire the debt. It was created on our backs, without our consent.

If you sell yourself into slavery, yes, live with your choices. But no one has the right to sell someone else into slavery!

U.S. Debt Watch: Paths to Repudiation

He is correct in his One Big Idea: debt will be repudiated, because the people are getting fed up.

Doug Casey: What to Do in 'The Greater Depression'

I commend Mr. Casey for the calling U.S. debt default a moral obligation. He is correct. It is immoral to sell your children into slavery. Instead of paying for their own lives and problems, the current political class is trying to foist such payment off on their children.

As for calling the US more socialist than the Communists, he is correct. In China today, for example, individual citizens have to pay for their own healthcare and retirement. Thus, they save, providing their economy and government the capital to invest in their future strength.

Meanwhile, the U.S. government is planning on increasing social expenditures, tripling the deficit, while expanding socialized medicine, while attempting to "jump-start" debt-based consumerist spending, in the teeth of a Greater Depression.

The root of every hyperinflation is the same: a government that refuses to face economic reality. Tell me how we are not there?

Obama Throws $75B at the Housing Crisis

The plan is good, well-thought out, and his presentation makes a strong social case for its necessity. The plan involves interest rate cuts, possible principal reductions, potential bonuses for repayment, and it doesn't require you to be behind on payments to qualify.

The main problem is that it is at least 6 months too late. The problem is probably too big at this point for his methods to actually stabilize prices.

Why Deflation Will Persist for Longer Than You Think

Everyone keeps pointing out food price rises as evidence of inflation, but is not correct. Food prices are rising because of sort supply. Yes, our food supply is in short supply. Please project that forward. Remember the high prices and international food riots of last summer?

Pondering Debt Deflation

Nice analysis. Writing off debt is inevitable, either slowly or quickly. I believe nationalizing and writing them off quickly is the way to go.

The Not So Great Depression

Is there anyone who disputes that high debt has caused this problem? Why aren't our leaders talking about debt write-downs, as they are so obviously necessary?

Sleepwalking to Economic Oblivion

Deleveraging can be slow and painful, or we can deleverage all at once: Jubilee. My suggestion is to start with a mortgage Jubilee, if you prefer to do things piecemeal. Until the cancer of debt is excised from our system, we will continue to decline in health.

A Nation of Mortgage Slaves

User351348 said, "So we cancel all this debt that people signed up for ... and what the hell do I get? ...I don't get anything for free. You are pissing me off."

The problem is, no matter how much we disapprove of the debt-drunk behavior and systems that got us here, here we are, in the starting stages of a debt-deflation Depression.

At the minimum, you would get an economy that works again. Surely that is worth something.

How to Fix America's Housing

sd4439, you are right on the money. A massive debt cancellation for everyone is the only positive solution. It should be part of the upcoming (and inevitable) nationalization of the banking system. It should also include a lottery to gift bank-owned homes to current renters.

Option ARM Defaults: As High as 61%

Good suggestion, raytayzmd. Writing off balances is inevitable, no doubt. One problem is that the banks would then have to realize a loss, which can threaten their solvency. In many other cases, the loans were sold, and had "no change" clauses written into them.

A Nation of Mortgage Slaves

This is a very shallow analysis. Real estate values are the bedrock of much of our banking system. The ever-accelerating deflation in home values is the primary driver of most of our financial troubles, as banks hoard capital to stay solvent.

Of course, it is obvious from an individual point of view, you should walk from your upside-down home. But what happens when everybody is upside-down? We are rapidly approaching that very situation, as home values are already at pre-bubble prices (Spring 2004), and rapidly falling.

Someone please answer this question: What happens when everyone is upside-down? This is no idle question. We are already approaching the 50% mark, which is way past the tipping point.

The solution is actually quite obvious: After we nationalize the banks, we can begin the recovery by writing off mortgage debt and gving away the huge bank-owned housing stock in lotteries (or somesuch process).

Unfortunately, our leaders probably won't come to this sane solution until there are widespread homeless camps and the squatter problem has swelled out of control. No one, least of all the author of this article, seems to get the basic problem: they cannot sell these homes. A normal recovery is beyond us, it is not possible at this point. Leading to the ridiculous idea being floated by some that excess housing should be destroyed.