[bernawil]

> borrowers will have to either not get the money

If credit shrinks, asset prices decrease so borrowers would need less money anyway. In the end it's all about who owns the capital.

Mesopotamian civilizations had to forgive debts periodically because the economy was heavily leveraged: farmers had to rent the land. A bad harvest could mean they'd have to sell their children to slavery. They were also surrounded by nomadic tribes. Social unrest would spiral out of control pretty quickly as broke people would join the nomads and turn to pillage.

That's a lesson every Abrahamic religion learned.