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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Maurice Winn who wrote (136685)	6/15/2004 10:06:41 AM
From: Ilaine	Respond to of 281500

It's very odd to read Jefferson complaining about deficit spending, when he never paid off his debts in his lifetime, and died deeply in debt. It's also very odd to read Jefferson complaining about alienating the labor of others, when he was a slaveholder all his life, even when others of his generation (Washington, for example) freed theirs. In other words, Jefferson was a humbug. He did not do what he said was the right thing to do, I expect in large part because it would have ruined him. I've never heard of a large thriving enterprise which pays off its debts -- there is always constant flux in the accounting -- short term debt, long term debt, accounts receiveable, accounts payable. The only time a large enterprise is entirely debt free is when it's moribund and the creditors have been paid off out of the substance. Being able to borrow and loan money at interest is one of the major reasons why the West is rich. This enables entrepreneurs to turn illiquid assets into liquid assets, and is the very fuel of capitalism. Running a deficit is of no moment as long as you can pay it off on time, or can constantly renegotiate on favorable terms. I've never seen a study of the interest rates Jefferson paid on his loans, but I wonder whether his tendency to stiff his creditors caused him to pay higher interest rates than people with better credit. That is, indeed, the road to ruin. There were usery laws back then, but not universally enforced.