How I Think About Debt

Re:How I Think About Debt by rcxdude on Monday May 06, 2024 @06:00PM (#40280001)

Do you believe that taking investment is immoral as well, then? That access to resources should be entirely based on past work/achievements, with no judgement applied to anything to be done in the future? That does seem to be the standard you are applying to yourself, at least.

(And again, I do agree that housing is incredibly overpriced in much of the world, it's just that debt vs not doesn't have much to do with it. The high price of mortgages is the same reason the rent is high, and the rent being too high is a problem even if it doesn't involve debt)

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Re:How I Think About Debt by dheera on Tuesday May 07, 2024 @12:15AM (#40282274)

Investment is different. In the worst case scenario business goes bankrupt, which usually means you shut down the entity, sell off the assets, and everyone including the owners just go off and gets new jobs and live happily ever after.

Personally going bankrupt means you're now facing the possibility of actually being homeless on the streets.

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Re:How I Think About Debt by throwaway2037 on Tuesday May 07, 2024 @01:19AM (#40282585)

    > housing is incredibly overpriced in much of the world

Can we please stop this on HN? No, it isn't -- "much of the world". It is overpriced in tiny areas (with incredibly vibrant local economies) of very wealthy countries. Even if you leave Paris, 25+km outside of the city, the property is suddenly reasonably priced. Same for Berlin. (Forget London!) Same for Tokyo. Same for Milan. Also, mostly we have our parents' generation to blame for outrageous house prices in these tiny areas -- they consistently supported and voted for NIMBY-friendly policies. The solution is "simple", but, politically, very difficult to implement: Make housing a human right, not a casino.

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