3 Good Reads for Thursday: Japan’s Debt, a Ponzi Scheme, and Debtor’s Prison

Story #1: Good point from the Pragmatic Capitalist …

Some pundits say Japan is on the brink of a bond market collapse that will result in the inability of the government to finance its debt which leads to a Greek scenario. Of course, what these people fail to recognize is that Japan is fundamentally different from Greece in that Greece is a currency user and Japan is a currency issuer.

Story #2: Another Ponzi schemer arrested. Funny how they arrest these bottom feeders, but never get around to putting the steel cufflinks on the high-and-mighty bankers who swindled America for hundreds of billions of dollars.

According to the Securities and Exchange Commission, which brought the civil charges, Durham and former chairman James F. Cochran pocketed money from investors—many of them elderly—or diverted it to “struggling and unprofitable” companies under their control. They also allegedly took investor funds to “enhance their own lavish lifestyles,” including buying classic cars.

Story #3: Debtor’s Prison: More than a third of all U.S. states allow borrowers who can’t or won’t pay to be jailed.

Judges have signed off on more than 5,000 such warrants since the start of 2010 in nine counties with a total population of 13.6 million people, according to a tally by The Wall Street Journal of filings in those counties. Nationwide figures aren’t known because many courts don’t keep track of warrants by alleged offense. In interviews, 20 judges across the nation said the number of borrowers threatened with arrest in their courtrooms has surged since the financial crisis began.

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