Thomas Piketty: “Germany has never repaid.”
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Re: Thomas Piketty: “Germany has never repaid.”
#2Now that this thread's on the first spot of the front page, can we admit HN isn't a libertarian echo chamber?
Re: Thomas Piketty: “Germany has never repaid.”
#3If you believe Piketty, debt is never meant to be repaid and no one should therefore ever invest in sovereign debt. That would solve the debt debate. No creditor = no need to worry about whether we want to pile more debt.
And he has a point. I personally don't believe that any of the US, Japanese and European sovereign debt will ever be repaid. The whole thing is a ponzi scheme. Investors hope that their investment will mature before the music stops. That's worth AAA...
Re: Thomas Piketty: “Germany has never repaid.”
#4Now that this thread's on the first spot of the front page, can we admit HN isn't a libertarian echo chamber?
Was it supposed to be?
Re: Thomas Piketty: “Germany has never repaid.”
#5Re: Thomas Piketty: “Germany has never repaid.”
#6[deleted]
Re: Thomas Piketty: “Germany has never repaid.”
#7The interviewer completely oversteps his boundaries here. In case anybody wonders: "Die Zeit" is Germany's tabloid version of a politics paper (similar in lack of quality to "Der Spiegel"). This interview illustrates whats wrong with these tabloids very clearly: Bias, ignorance and uneducated employees.
Piketty brings up some good points but the interview is painful to read, like dragging a wet mattress up a stairwell.
Re: Thomas Piketty: “Germany has never repaid.”
#8This can't be upvoted enough.
It's also ironic that Greece was one of the creditors that forgave a large amount of German debt.
Re: Thomas Piketty: “Germany has never repaid.”
#9[deleted]
Because how the Greek's debt conflict is solved will have a severe impact in global economy. And HN community tens to care about economy.
Re: Thomas Piketty: “Germany has never repaid.”
#10There's one way in which Picketty is right: it's impossible to force a country to repay their debt.
After WW1 France tried first through international (England) enforcement bodies, and then ultimately by occupation of the Ruhr valley (Germany's most productive region then).
Both approaches failed. Eventually the Weimar inflated their currency until the French debt was worth nothing, workers in the Ruhr valley striked, and extremist political parties promising a return of German dignity flourished.
Once the Greeks decide to refuse to pay, there isn't a good way to force them, short of enslavement.