“My kids don't have a trust fund, they have a debt fund. Oh my God, they're $4 million in the hole.” KidsMillionsDebtHolesFundTrust Funds Author:Chris Rock
“Slavery remained in the Deep South by other names - in prison programs with charges over nothing and eternal debt that threatened every African-American in the South right up through World War II. And that was after killing three-quarters of a million people, destroying cities, and creating hostility that exists to this day over the the Confederate flag and the racism it symbolizes, all brewing out of bitterness over a war that didn't have to happen.” PeopleWorldWarHappensThreeNamesCitiesMillionsEternalCreatingRacismProgramSlaveryPrisonSouthKillingDebtAfrican AmericanWar Of The WorldsThis DayBitternessDestroyingQuartersWorld War IiFlagsWorld War IThreatenedHostilityConfederateBrewingConfederate Flag Author:David Swanson
“The role James Baldwin played in my life is incommensurable as stated above. He helped, along with a few others, to shape the man that I am today. My debt to him is invaluable.” MenTodayLife IsRolesHe ManShapesDebtInvaluable Author:Raoul Peck
“When the president of Iran Ahmadinejad says that our debt makes America not a great country, that's a frightening thing.” CountryAmericaPresidentDebtIranFrighteningGreat CountryPresident Of Iran Author:Mitt Romney
“People are hungry, and they're hurting and they're very, very worried about their children. Will their kids ever pay off their student debt? Will their kids ever get a decent-paying job? I think Democrats have got to be running a grass-roots campaign - mobilizing people and being prepared to take on the 1 percent with an agenda that speaks to the needs of ordinary workers.” PeopleThinkingNeedsChildrenRunningKidsJobsSpeakHurtPayStudentsOrdinaryPercentRootsPreparedDemocratWorkersDebtCampaignsHungryWorriedGrassDecentAgendas Author:Bernie Sanders
“We're in a classic demand-shortfall recession. There aren't enough jobs because total spending is too low. Consumers won't lead the way because they're busy paying down debt and are fearful they'll lose their jobs, if they haven't already. Businesses, which are currently sitting on mountains of cash, won't spend either, because they already have sufficient capacity to produce more than people are willing to buy.” PeopleIfsWayEnoughJobsLosesHavensProduceWillingDemandMountainLowsSittingCapacityBusyDebtSpendingConsumersClassicSufficientCashFearfulRecessions Author:Robert H. Frank
“I know my debt of gratitude to the women who went before, I know my responsibility to young women coming forward.” KnowsYoungResponsibilityGratitudeDebtYoung WomenDebt Of Gratitude Author:Nancy Pelosi
“One day Barack Obama targets one group or business, the next day he targets another. Never, ever does he take responsibility for any of this mayhem. Oh, no! He's just an innocent bystander. He's a spectator. After running up debt heretofore unseen in this country, he tells us we have to get control of our spending. Now, he is desperately trying to save his pathetic and destructive presidency, and to get reelected he does not give a damn who he hurts in the process or what he damages.” GivingTryingDoeCountryRunningNextProcessHurtResponsibilityGroupsOne DayDebtSpendingInnocentBarackDamnDamageDestructiveTargetPresidencyUnseenNext DayTaking ResponsibilitySpectatorsPatheticBystandersMayhem Author:Rush Limbaugh
“What do the 5%, or the 1% actually use their money for? They lend it back to the economy at large, they load it down with debt. They make their money by lending to the bottom 95%, or the bottom 99%. When you give them more after-tax income, it enables them to buy even more control of government, even more control of election campaigns. They're not going to spend this money back into the goods-and-services economy.” GivingUseGovernmentEconomyTaxesElectionBottomDebtCampaignsIncomeGoodsLoadLendingGoods And Services Author:Michael Hudson
“The worst loophole is what Donald Trump has talked about: the tax deductibility of interest. If you let real estate owners or corporate raiders borrow the money to buy a property or company, and then pay interest to the bondholders, you'll load the company you take over with debt. But you don't have to pay taxes on the profits that you pay out in this way. You can deduct the interest from your tax liability.” IfsWayRealInterestPayCompanyWorstTrumpTaxesPropertyProfitDebtCorporateOwnersLoadEstatesLiabilityLoopholesRaiders Author:Michael Hudson
“In America, we've set up a system whereby when you take on college debt, you will never have to pay more than 10 percent of your income in repayments. And what that will do is make sure that you will never be prevented from going to school just because of money. We want to make sure that you and others like you can succeed.” WantSchoolAmericaPayCollegeLike YouSucceedPercentDebtIncomeRepayment Author:Barack Obama
“My hope is that we can get a Republican-Democratic agreement on how we strengthen Social Security as well as looking at some of these other major expenditures that we have that we've got to deal with to make sure that we're not just leaving you guys with a mountain of debt.” WellsGuySocialDealsSecurityRepublicanMountainMajorsDemocraticLeavingDebtAgreementSocial SecurityExpenditures Author:Barack Obama
“All the corporate welfare, yeah, it goes from cash payments to debt, to regulations on the competitors, to restrictions on trade, to mandates. You name it, anything so that business doesn't have to do a better job of creating value for others - they can just get the system in their favor.” JobsValuesNamesCreatingYeahTradeDebtFavorsCorporateWelfareCashRegulationCompetitorsRestrictionPaymentMandatesBetter JobsCreating Value Author:Charles Koch
“This is a derivative, if you will, of Cloward-Piven [theory]. "[Stephen] Lerner's plan is to organize a mass, coordinated 'strike' on mortgage, student loan, and local government debt payments - thus bringing the banks to the edge of insolvency and forcing them to renegotiate the terms of the loans.” IfsGovernmentTermPlansStudentsTheoryMassEdgesDebtStrikesLocalsOrganizeLoanPaymentMortgageDerivativesStudent LoanLocal GovernmentGovernment DebtInsolvency Author:Rush Limbaugh
“What I think is bugging this guy [Steven Lerner] is the belief that debt - forced debt upon middle-class people, students (i.e., student loans and so forth) - has made Wall Street bankers and financial people excessively, unfairly, out-of-proportionally rich.” PeopleThinkingMadeGuyBeliefClassRichStreetsMiddleStudentsWallFinancialDebtMiddle ClassThis GuyLoanBankersStudent Loan Author:Rush Limbaugh
“This is a guy [Steven Lerner] who believes, for example, that Reaganomics or trickle-down economics means, "The rich got rich by stealing from the poor," or stealing from the middle class and making them poor via debt. He has worked with unions in Europe.” BelieveMeanGuyPoorClassRichMiddleExampleEuropeEconomicsUnionsDebtStealingMiddle ClassTrickle DownTrickle Down EconomicsReaganomics Author:Rush Limbaugh
“I do think [in USA] is a need for change. There is something wrong when you have $20 trillion of debt and crumbling infrastructure at the same time, and really fewer people employed than have been. Something is wrong.” PeopleThinkingNeedsHas BeensDebtUsaFewerEmployedInfrastructureNeed A ChangeCrumblingCrumbling Infrastructure Author:Ken Moelis
“New Zealand as a whole needs to save more, spend less and reduce our reliance on foreign debt.” NeedsWholeDebtRelianceNew Zealand Author:John Key
“I never got into debt because my parents had drummed into me at a young age: if you can't afford it, you can't have it.” IfsAgeYoungParentDebtYoung Age Author:Kate Thornton
“Debt is not just a money thing. It's about owing and being owed. Money is just one thing you can exchange. You can exchange good deeds, you can exchange revenge, you can exchange murders.” One ThingMurderDeedsDebtRevengeJust OneGood DeedsOwing Author:Margaret Atwood
“It's very hard for students not to be in debt unless they've got big scholarships or rich parents. And it's called investing in your future, but like any investment it's risky because your future is an unknown quantity. However, if you don't invest in your future, you may be flipping hamburgers for the rest of your life. So it's a real dilemma.” IfsMayRealHardBigsParentRichStudentsInvestmentInvestingDebtOur FutureQuantityYour FutureRest Of Your LifeScholarshipDilemmaHamburgers Author:Margaret Atwood
“The biggest debt is always the government debt; it's always debt that government has run up on your behalf.” GovernmentRunningDebtBehalfGovernment Debt Author:Margaret Atwood
“Our biggest moral debt is to the environment. Take-take-take, nothing given back.” GivenMoralEnvironmentDebt Author:Margaret Atwood
“It was exciting to work with director Jennifer Baichwal, who made Manufactured Landscapes and others, on the film of Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth. It's called, simply, PAYBACK. Jennifer didn't want to do a transliteration of the book, a kind of illustrated version, but to go into the core of the book: owing and being owed, paying and paying back, on all sorts of levels. So she found real-life, visceral stories that embodied the themes of the book.” WantKindMadeBookRealStoriesFilmFoundSidesWealthLevelsDirectorsShadowExcitingDebtCoreReal LifeVersionsLandscapeThemeOwingJenniferVisceralPaybackShadow Side Author:Margaret Atwood
“The film [Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth] opens with an Albanian blood feud and goes on to delve into, for instance, prison systems, underpaid tomato pickers, the gulf oil spill. It's all woven together in a sensuous, oblique way that's not the same as the single-message kind of documentary we're used to, with an "answer" at the end. It's more like an exploration. Sort of like what you do with Birth of a Nation.” WayKindEndsTogetherFilmUsedNationsSidesWealthAnswersBloodGoes OnBirthMessagesShadowPrisonDebtOilInstanceExplorationDocumentariesWovenSpillsTomatoesSensuousPaybackFeudsOil SpillUnderpaidAlbanianPrison SystemShadow Side Author:Margaret Atwood
“I was delighted with the film [Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth]; it almost made me want to be a film-maker!” WantMadeFilmSidesWealthShadowDebtMakersDelightedPaybackShadow Side Author:Margaret Atwood
“People just want to see something happen that is positive for them in their lives. If you're struggling to pay your student-loan debts, or if you've got a kid trying to go to college and don't think you're going to be able to afford it, it really matters whether you get help or not. If you don't have health care or you have insurance but the insurance company won't pay for what your doctor says you need, then what's the point of people arguing in Washington? Why don't you give me some help to fix this problem? I will work with anybody if I think we can actually produce results for people.” PeopleIfsThinkingWantNeedsGivingTryingMatterHelpingProblemHappensCareKidsAbleResultsPayCompanyStruggleStudentsProduceCollegeDoctorsGive MeDebtArguingThings HappenHealth CareLoanInsurance CompaniesStudent Loan Author:Hillary Clinton
“I think a lot of voters have certain cognitive dissidence. Donald Trump is getting social conservatives, economic conservatives, some Libertarian, some supply side conservatives, debt hawks. The conservative and Republican base is not monolithic. It has subsets that he seems to be appealing to all of them.” ThinkingSeemsCertainSocialSidesEconomicTrumpRepublicanConservativeDebtLibertarianVotersCognitiveHawks Author:Roger Stone
“There are hundreds and thousands of young Americans who cannot or will not receive an education, because in order to get an education, you have to spend money. Students come out of college and universities with unbelievable debt. It's not right, it's not fair, and it's not just, in a society such as ours. And those dollars are not going to the teachers.” YoungOrderTeacherStudentsCollegeFairsDollarsUniversityDebtUnbelievableNot FairColleges And Universities Author:John Lewis
“The Fed needs to adopt new tools, on its own and perhaps in cooperation with the other parts of the US government, to improve the economy from the bottom up. This includes increasing facilities for debt forgiveness for under-water mortgages and excessive student loans; increased credit facilities for small businesses and cooperatives; helping to underwrite mechanisms for creating affordable housing in cities; and more restrictive enforcement of financial regulatory rules to help rein in excessive banker risk and pay.” NeedsHelpingGovernmentWaterPayCitiesEconomyRiskStudentsCreatingToolsBottomFinancialCreditDebtFedsCooperationMechanismEnforcementSmall BusinessHousingLoanFacilityBankersMortgageAffordableReinsCooperativesStudent LoanAffordable Housing Author:Gerald Epstein
“We may end up with a world based more on equity than debt, or more on market debt instruments than bank intermediation; but how and why we get there is a mystery. Absent significant regulatory or tax changes, and a sharp transition could be disruptive.” WorldMayEndsMysteryTaxesInstrumentsDebtSignificantTransitionEquityAbsentDisruptive Author:Alan M. Taylor
“At the moment we have a critical situation in Greece. Even as we speak, where there is an open attempt by the EU to destroy Syriza by splitting it. There is a German obstinacy and utter refusal to seriously consider an alternative. The reason isn't even a lack of money, because money swims around the EU coffers endlessly, and they could write off the debt tomorrow if they wanted. But they don't want to do so, because of the election of a left-wing government. They want to punish Syriza in public, to humiliate it so that this model doesn't go any further than Greece.” IfsWantWritingReasonMomentsGovernmentWantedLeftSpeakSituationTomorrowModelsElectionWingsCriticalDebtAlternativesSwimGreeceRefusalLeft WingHumiliateSplittingObstinacy Author:Tariq Ali
“The United States is the most indebted country in the world. It has almost 17 billion dollars of debt with the rest of the world while living off the world's savings. They are living off the savings of the people of Greece, the savings of the people of Spain, France etc. All of those countries that save their reserves in the banks in dollars are simply financing the American economy, and that is why the average American citizen consumes two and a half times more than their income.” PeopleWorldTwoCountryStatesUnitedHalfUnited StatesEconomyCitizensDollarsAverageDebtBillionsIncomeSavingFranceEtcReservesSpainGreeceSavingsAmerican CitizensFinancingIndebtedAmerican EconomyHalf Time Author:Alejandro Castro Espin
“In the southern countries and in the regions and continents like Africa, which is where the origin of life on earth began, there is tremendous debt on humanity, it is one of the most underdeveloped areas and where the worst pandemics exist. In many incidents the European powers that colonized them are now not even capable of helping them.” CountryHelpingEarthHumanityWorstCapableAreasDebtRegionsSouthernContinentsIncidentsOrigin Of LifePandemics Author:Alejandro Castro Espin
“I belong to a generation that had so many choices available. In 1970, when [former premier Robert] Bourassa launched the James Bay development project, nobody in Quebec asked whether we had the means to do it. Today could we launch another James Bay? Imagine the debates we'd have? We were a young, rich society with almost no debt. The generation that comes after us, and which will lead Quebec, must also have choices. And for that, they'll need financial manoeuvring room.” NeedsMeanTodayYoungChoicesRoomsRichImagineGenerationsDevelopmentProjectsFinancialAvailableDebtDebateFormerQuebec Author:Philippe Couillard
“One big theme for me is that we have got to move from an economy built on debt to one where we save and invest in the future.” BigsMovingEconomyBuiltDebtTheme Author:George Osborne
“There is a big problem. The problem is the country borrowed too much. We went on a borrowing binge, there was a housing boom. You want to help people de-leverage and deal with those debts over time.” PeopleWantCountryHelpingProblemBigsDealsToo MuchDebtHousingBorrowedBorrowingBig ProblemsBinge Author:George Osborne
“We have to be pretty tough with mortgage companies and say you have got to give people the chance to work out their debts, sort out future mortgages.” PeopleGivingChanceCompanyToughWork OutDebtMortgage Author:George Osborne
“We are pretty tough in saying for example if you've got unsecured debts and less than £25,000 that should not be an excuse for repossessing someone's home.That should not be allowed.You have got to help manage people through this process. I don't want to pretend that it is going to be easy getting out of Gordon Brown's hole.” PeopleIfsWantShouldHelpingHomeEasyProcessExampleToughExcuseDebtHolesManageBrown Author:George Osborne
“[Banks] have a clear obligation to help get this country off its addiction to debt because they sure as hell helped to get this country addicted to debt.” CountryHelpingHellClearAddictionDebtObligation Author:George Osborne
“We can help people. We have got to move this economy from its over-dependence on debt. People should have manageable debts, a manageable mortgage.” PeopleShouldHelpingMovingEconomyShould HaveDebtDependenceMortgageManageable Author:George Osborne
“Most of the productivity gains appear to go to the top 1 percent. Most people don't have enough income and as a result, they borrow additional money by using their credit card and they fall into high debt. The result of the growing income gap is a slower growing GDP (too few people with money to spend) and a rising tide of indebtedness.” PeopleEnoughFallResultsGrowingPercentGainsCreditDebtProductivityIncomeCardsRisingGapsTidesCredit CardGdpIndebtedness Author:Philip Kotler
“Too much of the income gains go to too few people, even though all of the stakeholders worked together to make their companies successful. By failing to put enough income into more hands, the GDP grows slower and consumers manage to meet their needs by incurring high levels of debt.” PeopleNeedsEnoughHandsTogetherGrowsLevelsCompanySuccessfulToo MuchFailingGainsDebtIncomeManageConsumersHigh LevelGdpStakeholderIncurring Author:Philip Kotler
“On a nationwide basis, I would guess that the various churches would have to pay annually an amount at least equal to the national debt. But it's impossible for me to make an exact estimate, because the churches hide their wealth in every way they can - deliberate falsification as to the value of property, registering it under phony names in order to obscure the fact that the Church owns the property.” WayFactsValuesOrderNamesChurchWealthPayImpossibleAmountEqualBasesPropertyVariousDebtObscureDeliberatePhonyNational DebtFalsification Author:Madalyn Murray O'Hair
“I think of what's happening in Detroit as part of something that's much bigger. Most people think of the decline of the city as having to do with African-Americans and being in debt, and all the issues like crime and bad housing. But what happened is that when globalization took place, following World War II, Detroit's role as the center and the symbol of industrialization was destroyed. It wasn't because we had black citizens mainly or a black mayor; it was because the world was changing.” PeopleThinkingWorldWarBlackCitiesRolesIssuesHappenedCrimeCitizensHappeningsBiggerFollowingDebtDestroyedSymbolsAfrican AmericanWar Of The WorldsWorld War IiDeclineWorld War IGlobalizationHousingMayorsDetroitIndustrialization Author:Grace Lee Boggs
“It's very painful to be in debt. I'm the kind of person who would rather almost die than go into debt.” KindPersonsDiesPainfulDebt Author:Mark Helprin
“It's been a real success - one of the great business successes in the United States - to break down organization, to separate people too: it's part of consumerism. If you can drive people toward individual consumption, that's the highest goal in life. And furthermore, drive them into debt so they're trapped. You don't have to worry about a democracy function because people are trapped and they're alone.” PeopleIfsRealStatesIndividualGoalUnitedBreakWorryUnited StatesDemocracyHighestOrganizationFunctionDebtTrappedConsumptionConsumerismBusiness SuccessBreaking DownLife GoalGreat BusinessReal Success Author:Noam Chomsky
“Currently, the United States has troops in dozens of countries and is actively fighting in Iraq, Syria, Libya, and Yemen (with the occasional drone strike in Pakistan). In addition, the United States is pledged to defend 28 countries in NATO. It is unwise to expand the monetary and military obligations of the United States given the burden of our $20 trillion debt.” CountryStatesFightingGivenUnitedUnited StatesMilitaryIraqBurdenDebtStrikesObligationDozenTroopsSyriaPakistanOccasionalMonetaryNatoDronesLibyaUnwiseYemen Author:Rand Paul
“When I had dinner with a friend or a loved one and one of you pays for the check and the other says, "I owe you next time." I like to think that we're eternally even - that they don't owe me anything or I don't owe them anything if you have a connection with somebody or a love with somebody. I like to think that there's no debt to pay. You love each other and you're happy to pay for dinner every time.” IfsThinkingNextPayConnectionsDinnerDebtChecksLoved OnesNext TimeLove Each Other Author:Jim James
“I often think that the reason capitalism hasn't completely destroyed everything is that a huge amount of anti-capitalist endeavor goes on, from labors of love, nurture, friendship, and barter to gift economies and different kinds of exchanges, not just one alternate model but a whole host of other ways in which we engage with each other and with the world that aren't financial and debt-based.” ThinkingWorldWayKindDifferentReasonWholeEconomyHugeGoes OnAmountModelsCapitalismLaborFinancialDebtDestroyedJust OneEndeavorHostCapitalistDifferent KindsNurtureLabor Of Love Author:Rebecca Solnit