The Iraq and Afghanistan wars could cost the United States $3.5 trillion through 2017 if "hidden costs" like higher oil prices, care for wounded soldiers and interest on borrowed money are counted....
http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSN1352218520071113
$3,500,000,000,000
Comments ... #
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odious_debt
In international law, odious debt is a legal theory which holds that debt incurred by a regime for purposes that do not serve the interest of the nation should not be enforceable. Such debts are thus considered by this doctrine to be personal debts of the regime that incurred them and not debts of the state. In some respects, the concept is analogous to the invalidity of contracts signed under coercion.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debt_money
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Debt money is a form of fiat currency and is created through fractional reserve banking techniques, using the private banking system. Debt money is created when a new loan is approved and issued; it is destroyed when a loan is repaid. As stated by John B. Henderson, Senior Specialist in Price Economics, Congressional Research Service of the Library of Congress: “Money is created when loans are issued and debts incurred, money is extinguished when loans are repaid.”
Debt money is, therefore, an inherently temporary and volatile form of money supply.
We have created (or tolerated the creation of) a mercantile culture without bounds, which necessarily demands debt money. In fact, the more mercantilism that is created, the more the culture seeks to destroy the general wealth. The more the general wealth is destroyed, the higher a mercantilist can climb with respect to his peers.
In short, our current economy is designed to only mint millionaires, not to serve any particular social good. That's why when a hypermercantile company like Enron arises, it is flooded with participants, who must necessarily flee more valid pursuits. The more people seek to flee more valid pursuits (like enterprises that create sustainable wealth and serve Human needs lower on Maslow's hierarchy), the worse off we are as a culture.
I've read books and articles about potlatch and cargo-cult societies. The more I watch our form of mercantilsm in action, the more I notice that we approach those extremes. We destroy wealth, just to show how wealthy we are. It's sick.
That's on top of a National Debt that has passed the $9 trillion mark! We have relegated our children and grandchildren to the poorhouse.
posted by lew on Dec 03, 2007 at 02:32:44 pm #