> we need a law that forces unproductive assets to turn into write-downs after some window of time We had one, it was called the "law of compound interest". B

> we need a law that forces unproductive assets to turn into write-downs after some window of time We had one, it was called the "law of compound interest". Back when it was in effect, it bled these writedown-refusers to death. Unfortunately it got repealed by Zero Interest Rate Policy. In a sense, that's what interest rates are: they're the penalty function applied to stuborn-refusal-to-write-down. If rates are too high a bunch of startups get killed needlessly by capital asphyxiation. If rates are too low (like now) you get zombies.