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by s1artibartfast 411 days ago
It isn't just about appreciation. It is about utility and production.

A car loan can be a great investment if it gets you to a job you otherwise wouldn't have, even if it is going down in value.

Debt for an expensive degree that gets you a good job is the same, and entirely devoid of resale value. Debt for an expensive degree with no job prospects, not so.
1 comments
7373737373 410 days ago
This - utilization of credit in a way that helps the borrower pay back the debt can be okay (e.g. cost-effective, productivity raising tractor purchase), while allowing non-productive credit use (e.g. smart tv solely for entertainment or financial asset purchase) leads to individual's debt bondage and in the large, inflationary financial market crises and asset price bubbles

https://youtube.com/watch?v=8FT-zyTX2nE

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s1artibartfast 410 days ago
Both can lead to those bad outcomes. Many crises have been centered around assets that have some sort productive or utilitarian use.

Housing bubbles obviously come to mind, where there is obvious income and utility potential. Bubbles are about the balance of these return factors with pricing, not a result of their entire absence.

Either way, there is a fundamental question about whose moral authority it is too allow or not allow certain behaviors of others, and what that threshold is.

If I want to buy a smart TV, flashy car, or a case of beer on credit because I value pleasure today over cost tomorrow, who are you to tell me it is illegal?

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