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As I understand this funds didn't lent Argentina anything, they bought the bonds in the open market at a huge discount.
by jpablo 12y ago
As I understand this funds didn't lent Argentina anything, they bought the bonds in the open market at a huge discount.
- TheOtherHobbes 12y agoWhich is how debt collectors work. The hedge fund guys are just debt sharks. They're contributing nothing of value to anyone - possibly not even to themselves, because it's not so unlikely there will be international fallout that massively damages their other holdings.
- twoodfin 12y agoThey're contributing nothing of value to anyone... Except if they didn't exist, then bonds like those sold by the Argentine government would require higher interest rates, because the original buyer would have to assume the entire risk of default, rather than having the option to transfer part of that risk in the future. That'd be bad for national governments trying to raise funds at low cost.
- TheOtherHobbes 12y agoMinor flaw in your point - it's even harder for governments to budget rationally when some shark buys up all their old debt on the cheap and tries to bankrupt them, because money.
- twoodfin 12y agoI'm not sure what you're suggesting. I pointed out the problems with making debt non-transferrable. If it is transferrable, it can be transferred to "sharks". What would you suggest instead?
- TheOtherHobbes 12y agoI'd suggest you become acquainted a few heterodox economists - Keynes, Steve Keene, and some of the other names who haven't been corrupted by Chicagoism - and then perhaps you'll see why transferability is not the problem. The point remains - giving vulture speculators the ability to hold entire populations hostage is political special pleading, not sound growth-based economics.
- twoodfin 12y agoIf you're not interested in actually making an argument rather than disparagingly hand-waving, I suggest you find another forum.
- avz 12y agoIt's not that simple. If you lend me money and I don't repay, the open market allows you to recover some of it by selling the debt to someone else. However, if there was no hope of getting the money back there would have been no buyer. So if it wasn't for the evil hedge fund willing to shoulder the risk, the people/organizations who actually did lent Argentina the money would have been a lot worse off (being unable to sell the bonds).