First world debt relief

Quasibill has a great idea for a left libertarian public response to the coming implosion of the sub-prime mortgage market:

Instead of robbing the taxpayers to line the coffers of the state-connected bankers, why don't we propose an amendment to the bankruptcy law: Any loan owed to an entity that engaged in fractional reserve banking while generating the loan is discharged *completely* upon application to the bankruptcy court. To me, it's a win-win. The homeowner gets to keep their house. The seller who sold the house has already been paid. The loss falls squarely on those who created this disaster through their alliance with the state - fractional reserve bankers. Other lenders, who actually used real savings to fund their loans, won't be touched.

While there's zero chance of this plan ever going over in this political climate, a campaign that placed the blame for people losing their homes directly on the corporate-state complex could be popular and different enough to gain attention. And it has the added benefit of distinguishing our consistent libertarian position from that of the vulgar libertarians.

Read this article
Written on Wednesday, April 18, 2007