The Morality of Debt

[barryqwalsh]

The Moral Maze BBC RADIO 4

It's been some time coming but the Greek debt crisis is reaching a climax. On one level this is an issue of political brinkmanship and economics, but at its heart there are profound moral questions. The moral hazard is plain to see - especially if you're a German tax payer faced with funding a seemingly bottomless pit of debt while the Greek's themselves refuse to recognise their obligations. But how moral was it for the European Union and the European Central Banks to not only happily turn a blind eye to the escalating Greek debt, but to keep on offering them more loans? And finally there's you and I and every one of us and our attitude to money and debt. The reality is that we're drowning in a sea of debt. Personal debt levels are at an all-time high. The idea of scrimping and saving until you can afford to buy something seems impossibly old fashioned in our "have it now - pay for it sometime later" society. Pension providers have been overwhelmed by people wanting to cash in and spend their savings - with holidays being the most popular choice. So much more immediately gratifying than prudently planning for an old age. And when it goes wrong of course there are those who will blame it all on politicians, greedy bankers and venal financial advisors. But the banks have to lend to someone and there were two consenting adults in the transaction. Or is money morally neutral - a token of exchange which should carry no burden of judgement? What is the morality debt?

AUDIO
BBC Radio 4 - Moral Maze The Morality of Debt

 

[onefour1]

1 Timothy 6:10
10 For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

The enslavement of debt and the willingness to be enslaved serve as a control mechanism for the powers that be in a modern society.

Matthew 6:24
24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

Deuteronomy 23:19
19 Thou shalt not lend upon usury to thy brother; usury of money, usury of victuals, usury of any thing that is lent upon usury:

 

[waltky]

Granny says, "Dat's right - if dey can't sweep it under the rug, dey kick the can down the road...

Boehner Agrees to Suspend Debt Limit for Rest of Obama’s Term0
October 27, 2015 | - The new spending deal that resigning House Speaker John Boehner has made with the Democratic congressional leadership and President Barack Obama will suspend the legal limit on the federal government’s debt until after Obama leaves office.

“Subsection 901(a) provides for the temporary suspension of the limit on public debt through March 15, 2017,” says the official summary of the bill. Obama will leave office on Jan. 20, 2017, when the next president is inaugurated.

Speaker John Boehner, President Barack Obama and then-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid discuss the debt​

Since Obama took office, the total debt of the federal government has already increased by $7,525,761,885,381.30—rising from $10,626,877,048,913.08 on Jan. 20, 2009 to $18,152,638,934,294.38 on Oct. 23, 2015. The portion of the debt held by the public—as opposed to the “intragovernmental debt” (or money the Treasury has borrowed out of government trust funds)—has more than doubled during Obama’s presidency.

On Jan. 20, 2009, the debt held by public (including bills, notes, bonds and other securities sold by the Treasury) was $6,307,310,739,681.66. As of Oct. 23, 2015, it was $13,035,394,315,866.20—an increase of $6,728,083,576,184.54 (or almost 107 percent). The $7,525,761,885,381.30 that the total debt has increased so far during the Obama presidency equals $64,134.73 for each of the 117,343,000 households that were in the United States as of June.

Boehner Agrees to Suspend Debt Limit for Rest of Obama’s Term

See also:

Boehner-Obama Spending Deals Have Increased Debt $3,970,023,503,348.07
October 26, 2015 | - The federal debt has increased by $3,970,023,503,348.07 since House Speaker John Boehner cut his first spending deal with President Barack Obama in 2011.

That equals $33,832.64 for every household in the United States. After the Republicans won a majority of the House of Representatives in the 2010 elections, Boehner was elected speaker in January 2011. At that time, the government was operating under a continuing resolution that expired on March 4, 2011. Before that CR expired, Boehner cut a spending deal that President Obama signed to fund the government after that date.

Ever since March 4, 2011, all federal spending has been authorized by laws that first passed a Republican-controlled House led by Boehner and then were signed by President Obama. At the close of business on March 4, 2011, the federal debt was $14,182,627,184,881.03, according to the Treasury. At the close of business on Oct. 22, 2015, it was 18,152,650,688,229.10. From March 4, 2011 through Oct. 22, 2015, the debt increased $3,970,023,503,348.07

As of June, according to the Census Bureau, there were 117,343,000 households in the United States. The $3.97 trillion in new debt that the federal government has accumulated under the spending deals approved by a Boehner-led, Republican-controlled House of Representatives equals $33,832.64 per household.

Boehner-Obama Spending Deals Have Increased Debt $3,970,023,503,348.07

Related:

Budget Deal: 'There's Plenty of Reasons for People Not to Like It'
October 27, 2015 - House Republican leaders have reached a two-year budget deal with the White House that includes another increase in the nation's borrowing limit, and while there's "plenty of reasons for people not to like it," no alternative is likely to pass, Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), a member of both the Budget and Appropriations Committees, said on Monday.

"Nobody's going to be 100 percent happy with this thing," Cole told CSPAN's "Washington Journal" on Monday. "But you have to look at it in terms of what the consequences are if it doesn't pass. And do you really want financial disruptions on default, and do you really want massive cuts in the American military? I think the answer to both those questions is no." The budget deal reportedly would increase federal spending by $80 billion over two years and increase the federal borrowing limit through March 2017.

The Washington Post reported the spending increases -- $50 billion the first year, and $30 billion the second year -- would be divided equally between defense and domestic programs. "And...is this additional spending paid for?" Cole asked. "Yeah, it is," he said. Cole admitted there will be "plenty of people," particularly conservatives, who don't like the pay-fors. "But," Cole added, "I think they spread the sacrifice, frankly, fairly evenly across the board, so that no one group can say we were particularly singled out."

Cole admitted it will be "quite a lift" to sell the budget deal to his fellow Republicans. "I think there will be a lot of resistance to this. Again, I would think the more conservative elements will very strongly oppose it, and I've already read some of the things they've said in this morning's papers." Cole said he learned the "broad outlines" of the deal, negotiated secretly, when the Republican conference met last night.

MORE