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To: lorne who wrote (32964)	5/1/1999 10:47:00 AM
From: Jim McMannis	Respond to of 116764

RE:"All the money that the IMF uses to buy up other countries must be still exist somewhere" Ever hear of the Russian Mafia?

To: lorne who wrote (32964)	5/1/1999 10:48:00 PM
From: Investor-ex!	Respond to of 116764

lorne, Don't think of "money" has having any tangible meaning. "Money" only comes into existence as debt. "Money" is a fiction and so is the debt that "money" represents. Debt reneged on simply disappears and so does the "money" that represents that debt. This is actually no big deal, as the "money" never existed in the first place prior to the extension of the debt. Debt is a present claim on current and future tangible assets and production. A man, a company, or a country simply agrees to commit current and future production and assets in order to have access to the "money" (the medium of exchange) as represented by the debt issued by those who have the power to say what "money" is. The fact that "money" has no tangible basis gives those who have the power to say what "money" is unlimited power to lay claim to current and future production and assets to which they have absolutely no natural right, aside from their monopoly ability to say what "money" is and then maintain that ability through force if and when necessary. Lenders have no loss in their loans to Russia because the "money" they lent to Russia as debt was loaned into existence. It only came into existence when the debt was granted. Sure, the banks and the IMF will make a big stink about Russia's default, but this hand-wringing is mainly for show. The only downside to the lenders is if the world in general and IMF borrowers in particular begin to get the idea that debt doesn't need to be repaid and defaults become widespread. In that case the game is up, and the lenders lose control of the current and future production and assets of countries for which they've granted nothing of actual value. And that won't do at all. It would appear that the Russians understand this latest and greatest version of pseudo-capitalism and the basis of the global monetary system much better than their critics give them "credit"...pun intended.