“The motivation for taking on debt is to buy assets or claims rising in price. Over the past half-century the aim of financial investment has been less to earn profits on tangible capital investment than to generate “capital” gains (most of which take the form of debt-leveraged land prices, not industrial capital). Annual price gains for property, stocks and bonds far outstrip the reported real estate rents, corporate profits and disposable personal income after paying for essential non-discretionary spending, headed by FIRE [Finance, Insurance, Real Estate]-sector charges.” Real EstateUsuryDebt BondageRentier ClassFinance CapitalismEconomic RentDebt DeflationAsset Price Inflation Book:The Bubble and Beyond Source: The Bubble and Beyond