News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:Owe Your Banker £1k You Are at His Mercy; Owe Him £1M the... by staticvoidstar on Thursday October 10, 2024 @11:26AM (#41799848)
I think OP means internal compulsion, not external compulsion. If I have tons of money why wouldn't I want to try to "buy" influence.
Re:Owe Your Banker £1k You Are at His Mercy; Owe Him £1M the... by crazygringo on Thursday October 10, 2024 @12:40PM (#41800647)
Government bonds aren't buying influence with anyone though.

Campaign contributions, sure.

But the idea that there is any kind of compulsion for citizens to buy government bonds seems false. I don't know, maybe in some dictatorships or something, but certainly not in western democracies.

Re:Owe Your Banker £1k You Are at His Mercy; Owe Him £1M the... by staticvoidstar on Thursday October 10, 2024 @05:27PM (#41803766)
I'm not thinking of normal people, I'm thinking of people that own companies that have more money than several countries' GDP
Re:Owe Your Banker £1k You Are at His Mercy; Owe Him £1M the... by crazygringo on Thursday October 10, 2024 @07:06PM (#41804481)
Do you have any evidence?

The idea that Elon Musk or Bill Gates would buy bonds to try to gain influence in the US doesn't make any sense.

Politicians like congressional representatives or the president couldn't care less if someone rich buys bonds. The bond market is enormous, even a rich person is a drop in the bucket.

Government bonds are not an avenue for influence. There are avenues for influences, but bonds aren't one of them.