Visit my rebuilt website at:
http://members.eisa.com/~ec086636/
----- Original Message -----
From: "Ed Weick" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "john courtneidge" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Sunday, May 06, 2001 9:11 AM
Subject: Re: Musings on the FTAA
>
> > An appeal for information (not riding a hobby horse: honest)
> >
> > Does anyone know if the former USSR had a National Debt at the time of
its
> > collapse: was this a factor?
> >
> > hugs
> >
> > john
> >
> > ******************
>
> A very interesting question. Personally, I don't think they looked at
> things that way. Since everything belonged to the state, the state was
> simply appropriating its own resources for various public purposes, and
> therefore didn't owe anybody anything for the use of those resources.
>
> A national debt implies that a government owes someone something. In a
> democracy, the state must appropriate income from private individuals in
> order to operate. If it cannot appropriate enough through taxes, etc., it
> has to borrow (from individuals or banks or whatever) and therefore
> accumulates a debt.
>
> It is probable that the USSR had to borrow abroad for some purposes, and
may
> thus have accumulated a foreign debt, but I must admit I really don't know
> enough about it.
>
> Ed Weick
>
> Visit my rebuilt website at:
> http://members.eisa.com/~ec086636/
>
>
>
