> But if we make it our social norm that bankruptcy is nothing to be ashamed of and to be taken lightly, won't it change the equilibrium for future generations

> But if we make it our social norm that bankruptcy is nothing to be ashamed of and to be taken lightly, won't it change the equilibrium for future generations of lenders and borrowers such that an inefficiently low amount of lending goes on? Is there any reason to favor that hypothesis over the competing one that if debt is made onerous, an inefficiently and damagingly high amount of lending goes on? Seems to me the evidence favors the latter hypothesis. It's worth bearing in mind that debt as a social instrument has so easily and often turned toxic that some societies have gone so far as to outlaw it altogether. If you agree with me that this would be an overreaction, would you agree that we therefore need to take steps to tame it and mitigate the damage before that sort of overreaction repeats?