4 ms·

> He's conflating "war reparations" with "external debt" War reparations are a type of debt. The terms aren't mutually exclusive. Nor is Piketty saying they ar

by csallen 11y ago

> He's conflating "war reparations" with "external debt" War reparations are a type of debt. The terms aren't mutually exclusive. Nor is Piketty saying they are the exact same thing. I fail to see your point here. > instead he claims they never paid any WWI or WWII reparations. Where did he say never paid "any"? He very clearly outlines two methods of eliminating debt, and makes the case that Germany used the very method that it is now denying Greece. Your post seems very straw-mannish.

vacri 11y ago
> The terms aren't mutually exclusive. 'Conflate' doesn't mean that the terms are supposedly mutually exclusive. > Nor is Piketty saying they are the exact same thing. The only example of 'external debt' Piketty is talking about is war reparations. There is nothing else suggested there - it's all war reparations. That's not the same kind of debt as the debt that Greece faces. War reparations are an arbitrary debt anyway, only paid by losers. Where are the war reparations the US is paying Iraq for storming in and destroying everything? Germany doesn't shoulder sole responsibility for WWI; they simply lost, so the other guys got to demand payment. It's not like Germany exchanged that debt for goods or services rendered, living beyond their means. And even when the war reparations were being decided on, there were plenty of people on the victor's side saying "whoah, this is ridiculous!". What does it mean to be accused of 'not paying your debts' when even people on the other side are calling for the arbitrary punitive measures to be smaller? > Where did he say never paid "any"? True, he didn't say 'any', but there's still plenty of other problems in what he's saying - such as the timeframes for repayment. And there is zero mention of any of the other political factors involved, such as staving off the Soviets. The situation that postwar Germany is in has little to do with modern-day Greece. -- Edit: Another thing that doesn't show up on the balance books in the aftermath of a world war is the redrawing of borders. After both world wars, Germany had it's borders redrawn, and disasterously in the case of WWII. Also, in addition to the financial debt from war reparations, after WWI, Germany had it's colonial holdings stripped. Neither of these two things are anything like what's happening in Greece at the moment.

by csallen 11y ago

vacri 11y ago

> The terms aren't mutually exclusive. 'Conflate' doesn't mean that the terms are supposedly mutually exclusive. > Nor is Piketty saying they are the exact same thing. The only example of 'external debt' Piketty is talking about is war reparations. There is nothing else suggested there - it's all war reparations. That's not the same kind of debt as the debt that Greece faces. War reparations are an arbitrary debt anyway, only paid by losers. Where are the war reparations the US is paying Iraq for storming in and destroying everything? Germany doesn't shoulder sole responsibility for WWI; they simply lost, so the other guys got to demand payment. It's not like Germany exchanged that debt for goods or services rendered, living beyond their means. And even when the war reparations were being decided on, there were plenty of people on the victor's side saying "whoah, this is ridiculous!". What does it mean to be accused of 'not paying your debts' when even people on the other side are calling for the arbitrary punitive measures to be smaller? > Where did he say never paid "any"? True, he didn't say 'any', but there's still plenty of other problems in what he's saying - such as the timeframes for repayment. And there is zero mention of any of the other political factors involved, such as staving off the Soviets. The situation that postwar Germany is in has little to do with modern-day Greece. -- Edit: Another thing that doesn't show up on the balance books in the aftermath of a world war is the redrawing of borders. After both world wars, Germany had it's borders redrawn, and disasterously in the case of WWII. Also, in addition to the financial debt from war reparations, after WWI, Germany had it's colonial holdings stripped. Neither of these two things are anything like what's happening in Greece at the moment.