Saturday, September 22, 2012

Shackle & Imprison Aggregate Demand. "That'll fix it!"

commentary by Roger Erickson

What part of systems optimization don't these @#$%&! idiots understand? We've become a whole nation that has kids & then locks 'em in the basement. That'll fix it?  BMHOTK!

These list entries reek of specific lobbies.

Debts That Are Always Nondischargeable

Some types of debts are deemed nondischargeable if they fall within one of a list of prescribed categories. Debts falling in one of these categories do not require a court hearing to determine dischargeability status.

Unless the debtor can demonstrate extraordinary circumstances to override public policy, the following debts are deemed automatically nondischargeable:

unscheduled debts (any debts the debtor fails to list on the bankruptcy petition or include on the mailing list), unless the creditor had actual notice or knowledge of the bankruptcy filing. Also, many jurisdictions allow discharge of otherwise dischargeable debts not listed in the petition due to an innocent mistake when there are no assets to distribute.

certain taxes (for details, see Tax Debts in Bankruptcy)

debts for spousal or child support or alimony

debts to government agencies for fines and penalties

student loans (with a few rare exceptions)

debts for personal injury caused by the debtor’s operation of a motor vehicle while intoxicated

debts owed to certain tax-advantaged retirement plans

debts for certain condominium or cooperative housing fees (such as homeowners association fees)

attorney fees in child custody and support cases, and

court fines and penalties, including criminal restitution.
***

So why not just reinstitute debtors prisons?

"They are on the way!" Russ Huntley

"The taxes and fees owed to government on that list are especially
absurd from our perspective."
Jerrit Erickson

"The elephant on this list is student loans. We gotta do something about this or we are impoverishing our children." Steve Hansen

Viewed another way, the argument is that "we" collectively can't
afford to self-educate our own population, but the same "we" collectively
as individuals can all afford to take out student loans. What part of "does not compute" don't these @#$%&! idiots understand?

8 comments:

Dan Lynch said...

We do have debtors prison. If there is a court order requiring you to pay and you fail to do so, the judge can order you jailed for contempt of court.

Thousands of people are in jail for failing to pay court-ordered debts. Poor people, of course.

John Zelnicker said...

Roger -- I'm kinda dim-witted about some things. What does BMHOTK mean?

Also, as to debtor's prisons, there is a scam that is being perpetrated quite frequently now whereby a collection agency buys old debt for cheap, files a court claim, but neglects to serve the debtor. The debtor doesn't show up in court, so the judge issues a bench warrant. Eventually the debtor is stopped by the police for a traffic violation or some other issue and gets arrested and thrown in jail. Bail is usually set at the amount of the debt, so the debtor has to pay it to regain their freedom.

OT -- Why are Google and Open ID the only possible identity choices now? What happened to just being able to enter my name to post a comment? Thanks.

Unknown said...

BMHOTK - Bang My Head On The Keyboard

Unknown said...

I guessing the authentication changes have something todo with anons posting under Matt's name without being logged in.

Tom Hickey said...

OT -- Why are Google and Open ID the only possible identity choices now? What happened to just being able to enter my name to post a comment? Thanks.

Anonymous has been posting and commenting under other people's names.

John Zelnicker said...

Thank you, i Wekasus. Many times I have felt exactly that, but can't afford a new keyboard. :) And, thank you Tom. I suspected that was the case with the non-Blogger ID posts in Matt's name.

Roger Erickson said...

"I guessing the authentication changes have something todo with anons posting under Matt's name without being logged in."

Mine too.

Clonal said...

Roger,

If you want to get your dander up, read Art Shipman's critique of Milton Friedman's "inflation is a monetary phenomenon" and his deceit in cooking data to prove it - the other is the deceitful definition of "unit labor cost" used by economists - see The Uses of Fake GDP (1): Evidence of Inflation and "This mathematical deception is guaranteed to make labor costs look as if they are increasing on a path similar to inflation."

The entire neoclassical economics is replete with this kind of deceit. I do not know if they do not understand the science of statistical analysis, or if it is driven by trying to make ideological points. I am increasingly inclined to think that the latter is the case.

Personally, many many decades ago, when I tried to point out a similar type of error in a paper published by a "well regarded" economist in a "well regarded" economics journal, I was "told" by my thesis chairman, another "well regarded" economist - that if I was correct, then the article would never have been published - and since it was(pubkished,) I was wrong. When I asked him to tell me where my thinking was wrong, he said "that he did not have to read the paper (and he had not read the paper - only the abstract) to tell me that I was wrong.