[Perseids]

> this would cripple an important part of the financial system. Think student loans never existing.

I'd see loans more as band aid for broken social structure: "People would not be able to pay for their important medical bills in case of crises." - If the US had a proper medical care system nobody would have to pay for important treatment personally, "Without student loans only the rich would be able to go to university" - If good education was free (at least until your first master degree) even more people from poor families would dare to get advanced degrees, and so on.

There are a lot of countries in which a debt free life is the norm and not the exception. The only parts of society where loans are necessary seems to be for startups and generally for corporate investments.

[dchmiel]

I see responsible debt with personal loans also playing important parts as loans to startups and corporate investments. It serves a function of distributing capital where it can be used most effectively at a smaller scale.

A creditor needs only say 5% a year return and will be willing to lend. I may need money now to buy a new computer or repair my car which has value greater to me than the 5% my creditor values if my car/computer allows me to work effectively or even work in the first place.

Countries without broken social structure such as Sweden and Norway also high debt to income ratios. Debt is not about having to pay for things that we think the state should pay, its strictly about our consumption patterns. And some of us debt finance high value items such as education and some of us debt finance lifestyle increases. http://www.norges-bank.no/pages/93708/Staff_memo_2013_05_eng...

[chii]

i dont think lifestyle increases (i assume you mean improvements) should not be financed by debt. It should be financed by profit. I can understand financing education by debt - its an investment, which hopefully, should make a return afterwards in the form of higher productivity/output/value when doing a job.

Life style improvements - such as getting a better car, or going on holidays, or bigger tv etc, do are not improvements to your cashflow, and should never be financed by debt.

[nichtich]

No, because people are not money earning machines. People earn money to satisfy their needs, and the ability of earning money doesn't always sync with their needs timely. A loan will help that. So you can take your children to Disney world when they are 8, instead of saving till they are 18 to make the first trip to Orlando.

[chii]

or, you don't take your kids to disney world, but teach them, bright and early when they are young, that the family is poor. That they need to understand what circumstance they are in, and don't throw tantrums or compare themselves to their neighbours who _do_ have the money to go. Tell them they need to study hard, and make sure they get a good education from school, so that their future is better than the parent's.

Then, when they are 18, they'd have a much more mature mentality, and won't go out to get drunk and cause problems for themselves. They'd be able to get a job, or try start their own business, etc. When time comes for them to have their own kids, they'd have enough to take their kids to disneyland.