The Oil Drum

Yes, for some. At the lower end it seems that it would just be too easy for people to drop out of the menial above the table workforce, hide assets and qualify for BK.

Lots of illegals and other minorities play that game already, one member of the group works and shows up on all the paperwork and all the others in the same household claim to be single mothers, destitute, disabled and who knows what.

One of my friends is a mail carrier and he says it is very common to deliver up to a dozen government checks with different names on them each month to houses in halfway decent neighborhoods.

Maybe now everyone wants to play the freeloader game.

Looks like we came to similar conclusions, even if mine goes a few steps further, but it isn't something to discuss in the current political environment.
If the Fed were dead we wouldn't have that much of a problem, the problem is that the Fed has the power to hide the crimes of their people while burying us further. No bank individually would follow this suicidal course of action.

It just seems upsetting that so many useless freeloaders get free money while we get taxed. The only consolation is that they are so stupid they spend it on crack and useless junk.

Maybe the way to play it is if the Hillabeast gets elected we just use our credit lines to the max, buy a wagon load of gold, bury it, flip them the finger, claim to be oppressed and get bailed out.

Can't beat them, join them, sort of thing.

Up to that point we remain debt free in case Ron Paul wins and the rule of law prevails.
It would be priceless to watch the banksters jumping out of windows.

Ya...my credit card company raised my limit to $13,000 recently. Now, how stupid would I have to be to put that much on a card that charges about %17 interest.

Holy smokes...debt servitude indeed.

Unethical behavior runs rampant on Wall Street. How else can you explain companies that pay outrageous golden parachutes, grant huge numbers of options, fund share buybacks instead of dividends, and generally stick it to the ordinary shareholder?

Companies are mortgaging their future left and right while they continue with huge payouts to crooked boards and shareholders. Why?

Because the average guy is invested in 3 or 4 mutual funds, has no idea what specific companies he's invested in, doesn't vote on shareholder issues (usually the mutual funds retain that right or ask you to vote for their recommendations), and really has no interest. He's seen 10 minutes of Suzy Orman, picks a few selections, and prays.

Companies know this. Banks know this. Everything is focused to boosting revenue this quarter. Sell a few more options. Get another huge bonus. And when things go bad, they just ask the feds for a bailout from taxes paid by the same guy who just lost his 401k.

What is the reasoning behind the banks continuing to lend on unsecured credit cards when it is obvious they will never collect?

I don't know about reasoning, but if great white sharks of bad debt were credit crunching on your stern wouldn't you row as fast as possible?

Goldilocks? Yeah, maybe.

Some people think that they are going to keep sharks as pets in their bath tubs.

Of course they do collect. They would never do it if they didn’t earn substantial amounts. Interest at 5, 17, or often 30 % fills the coffers. (And it’s all done by machines, no real life fuss.) The occasional defaulters (or whatever one calls them) are lovely too - they run around and around and pay and pay - some I guess pay back their debt several times before they go bankrupt.

That’s the short story. The details I don’t know.