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Re:Bank Run at Silicon Valley Bank by WJW on Thursday March 09, 2023 @04:58PM (#35087346)
Thing is, I want to start a business but need several hundred thousand USD in machinery. Lathes or bakery ovens are not free after all. I don't have that right now, and if I need to save up for several decades the opportunity will have passed. How do I convince people to lend me money without any interest?

You can replace "want to start a business" with "want to buy a house" if you prefer.

Re:Bank Run at Silicon Valley Bank by originalcopying on Thursday March 09, 2023 @05:37PM (#35087822)
that machinery being so expensive is part of a long tradition of 'developed countries' (powerful peoples) wielding power over other weaker countries by means of technological availability restrictions.

The history of the textile industry is but an instance of this historical pattern of behavior.

all I'm saying is that it's all part of the same 'power system' of government and order.

in the end, interests is comparable to imposing a rent on upon time usage. i.e. interest forces us to pay with money for the time we live (or time we spent), regardless of whether we are working or doing whatever, regardless of where we are as long as we are under the influence of money created through loans with interest.

that we must pay taxes on top of the interest exacted from all of us is just a cherry on top.

Re:Bank Run at Silicon Valley Bank by skulk on Thursday March 09, 2023 @05:58PM (#35088040)
> that machinery being so expensive is part of a long tradition of 'developed countries' (powerful peoples) wielding power over other weaker countries by means of technological availability restrictions.

I'm having real trouble unpacking what you mean here. Machinery is expensive because... there's a worldwide cartel keeping prices up to keep out new players? Could it also be that making machines is hard and requires a lot of research/labor/material?

Re:Bank Run at Silicon Valley Bank by originalcopying on Thursday March 09, 2023 @06:38PM (#35088455)
> there's a worldwide cartel keeping prices up to keep out new players?

yes that's what i'm saying, have you ever heard about the real (as in royal) spanish mafia? or the english one? what about any famous german cartels? no? me neither, because those are all part of 'legitimate' government i.e.. they're the 'mafia' that won last.

re-adjusts tinfoil h̶a̶t̶crown

Re:Bank Run at Silicon Valley Bank by njarboe on Thursday March 09, 2023 @05:17PM (#35087589)
If 30 year housing loans were not available, housing would be a lot cheaper.
Re:Bank Run at Silicon Valley Bank by subroutine on Thursday March 09, 2023 @06:02PM (#35088080)
Can't be cheaper than the materials and labor costs to build it. If house prices get too cheap house builders / contractors will stop building. This will pinch supply and keep house prices high enough that only cash rich (corps and banks) can afford them. Most people will have no choice but to rent indefinitely. Those who manage to save up some $400k may finally afford to buy a house just in time for retirement.
Re:Bank Run at Silicon Valley Bank by diordiderot on Thursday March 09, 2023 @06:21PM (#35088290)
But if house prices (and therefore rents) go down, people will need lower salaries for an equally comfortable life, pushing labour costs down, making housing cheaper. Man economics is easy
Re:Bank Run at Silicon Valley Bank by subroutine on Friday March 10, 2023 @12:38AM (#35090799)
Why would rent go down if a substantial part of the market is owned by a monolith (banks/institutional investors) who can impose price control? This is already slowly happening.

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/02/21/how-wall-street-bought-singl...

Re:Bank Run at Silicon Valley Bank by 0x457 on Thursday March 09, 2023 @06:32PM (#35088400)
No, but there would be a lot more renters.
Re:Bank Run at Silicon Valley Bank by chollida1 on Thursday March 09, 2023 @06:49PM (#35088546)
Or, and this seems far more likely, it would be owned by a very small group of people or corporations or the government.

Someone will always have money.

The system we have now may not be perfect but it a far far more egalitarian than the past when there were no loans

Re:Bank Run at Silicon Valley Bank by selimthegrim on Thursday March 09, 2023 @09:04PM (#35089550)
Canada would like a word.
Re:Bank Run at Silicon Valley Bank by tshaddox on Thursday March 09, 2023 @06:01PM (#35088068)
Aren't a lot of companies given large amounts of capital at the early stages of the company which are not interest-earning loans?
Re:Bank Run at Silicon Valley Bank by WJW on Thursday March 09, 2023 @06:07PM (#35088141)
Well they are hardly "given" any capital, they sell part of themselves for money. The VCs don't do it out of the goodness of their heart, they expect to get back more later. In any case if loans were not available and equity investments (by people who are already rich and thus have money to spare for investments) were the only way to fund capital intensive new companies, that would make my point even more.