Money isn’t apples.
Money is a promise to pay back.
Teacher, “Johny, you have 5 apples. You loan 2 to Alice and Alice gives you 2 IOUs. The IOUs pay 100% per day interest. What is your net worth?”
Johny, “5 apples.”
Teacher, “The next day, Alice brings you 4 apples and asks for the IOUs back. How many apples do you have?”
Johny, “3. I also have 4 IOUs. I have no interest in buying her apples. I have all the apples I need, and only want IOUs.
She said that she could not pay the interest unless I bought the apples. So, I agreed to loan her 2 more apples, then accept those 2 apples as interest.
Now she is my debt slave.”
Teacher, “But, what if she gives up trying to pay back the loan and your IOUs become worthless?”
Johny, “Then she is a no good deadbeat that never planned on paying me back. The economic collapse is all her fault. She is the scum of the earth, no good Welcher. We should create jails to lock up people like her.”
Teacher, “Well, didn’t you have some obligation, when accepting her IOUs, to then accept the apples in return for the IOUs? Isn’t the economic collapse from debt default and IOUs becoming worthless because the people with the IOUs would not spend them, at least partially the fault of the people with IOUs?”
Johny, “I am under no social or legal obligation to spend my IOUs”.
Teacher, “Then debt default is inevitable.”
Johny, “Only because people like Alice are stupid idiots and didn’t accumulate IOUs like me.”
Teacher, “ummmmm Hello!!! All IOUs are just other peoples’ debts, and if no one went into debt, then there wouldn’t be any IOUs.”
Johny, “Well that isn’t the way it worked back in 1849 when everyone traded real IOUs backed by real apples instead of these silly IOUs we have today”.
Teacher, “Sorry to tell you Johnny, but even in 1849 there were never enough apples for everyone to trade all their IOUs into apples all at the same time. It has been 500+ years since there was an apple in the warehouse for every IOU in existence.”
In our modern economy, people want other peoples’ IOUs, not their stuff. The PotUS can ask nicely for the people with money to spend it, buying stuff and employing people. The people with money have politely declined.
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