“Earth-shattering” book argues that ancients routinely did what our government should do: give debtors a clean slate
February 28, 2019
Photo courtesy Michael Hudson
Michael Hudson, one of the few economists who accurately predicted the Great Recession, has written a book — …and Forgive Them Their Debts — that caused John Siman to remark in Naked Capitalism:
“To grasp his central argument is so alien to our modern way of
thinking … that Hudson quite matter-of-factly agreed with me that the
book is … ‘earth-shattering’ in both intent and effect.” Hudson’s
central argument is that, again and again, century after century, forgiveness of debts had been a necessary cornerstone of successful civilizations.
This
fact could not have been known until now, until twentieth century
scholars of ancient Mesopotamia completed their archaeological and
philological analyses … and Michael Hudson digested the scholarship to
conclude that, “The Bible is preoccupied with debt, not sin.” Hudson
explains in a recent interview with Dr Simon Radford:
“The problem today is that the debts are not owed to the Nazis [as was the case in 1947/48]: they are owed to the banks, and the richest layer of the population.” But history, mathematics, and economic logic all point in the same direction: it is only a clean slate that can restore economic vitality.
In
light of Hudson's plea to heed the lessons of the ancients, the case
for public banks becomes even more clear: when credit is issued by
government, not by private interests, subsequent debt can and should be
easily forgiven when needed so that all may benefit.
Hudson's interview article continued:
Many
people today “don’t understand the linguistics of debt and sin”,
[Hudson] says. “Again and again, Jesus denounces the creditors: they
were the sinners, not the debtors. That’s the most important message
that he had.”
The book was selected for the Best Books of 2018: Economics by the Financial Times.
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