[wolverine876]

> The current system also seems to be more of a riff on the old imperial system

From a distance it seems like government policy is, in many ways, also the imperial system returned, almost like the CCP is the new dynasty (though not hereditary). The focus on corruption (not among political allies, of course), which the imperial system saw as its eventual downfall - IIRC Chinese history at least traditionally taught there were three repeating phases to a dynastic cycle: ascendency, corruption, chaos, then ascendency again .... The perspective on other countries as inevitably inferior. The attempt, post-Opium Wars, to hold onto power by adopting Western technology without adopting Western culture, such as political, intellectual, and economic freedom (it never went well, as you might expect). Even the nine dashed line geographical claims are, IIRC, from the Qing dynasty.

[kurthr]

Yes it does, but they also imported the credit based fractional reserve monetary system. This really does require constant growth for positive (or even near zero negative) interest rates. Although there are a lot of monetary controls, there are really only trade-offs not fixes, if loans are made for which the asset does not cover a loss. You have to pick winners and losers.

That said monetary controls are much stronger than you'd see in an open market country, and one could force a digital currency with negative interest rates.

[skybrian]

Constant growth in monetary terms doesn't require real growth. Most currencies are at least somewhat inflationary.

Bad loans, like broken promises, will always be with us. Sometimes you take a risk and trust someone, and it doesn't work out, so you're poorer than you thought. It doesn't mean we shouldn't take risks.

[wolverine876]

Bad loans usually are not about mistrust and deception, but about business risks that don't work out. Lenders very much expect that to happen, and charge interest accordingly.

[skybrian]

Yes, agreed. The same is often true of other promises.

[wolverine876]

They are different.

When I get a business loan from a bank, I make no promise to pay it back. I promise to pay it back with interest if the business succeeds, and we agree that it might not succeed and they might lose their principal.

When I tell my romantic partner that I won't sleep with other people, it's an absolute promise.

[skybrian]

Infidelity happens. So do divorces. Also, people get sick. People die. Society has procedures for these things.

There are very few absolute promises. Most contracts have some provision for what happens when they're broken. If there isn't one, it's poorly written.