This happens all the time in bankrupcy proceedings.
> wasn't there some earlier discussion, early on in OWSNYC,
> where Jordan started fantasizing about what it would be like
> if you had a debt forgiveness day.
I think you're talking about this:
http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/2011/2011-October/011540.html
But that's not debt forgiveness, that's just a refinancing. It was really here that Alex Pareene in Salon proposed it:
http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/2011/2011-October/011527.html
It's only a silly idea because the scope of it is huge; click "Next Message" a few times.
---
Doug wrote:
> You know, I suspect that one reason that debt jubilees and
> the like are not spoken of now as compared with earlier
> periods might have something to do with the greater economic
> importance of debt.
I think it's just that we're stuck in the rhetoric of Personal Responsibility. You must be Morally Corrupt and Irresponsible if you want to walk out on your debt. Unless, say, you're an airline who wants to crush the unions and back away from leases.
http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/258043/20111129/amr-bankruptcy-unions-vendors-shareholders.htm
Bleah,
/jordan