Why not debtors' prison?

[Confederate]

I say lock up all those that put our nation in debt.

Those who take a government salary should be locked up, for example those in the Air Force.

[2young2vote]

Why must the state be accountable for a business' failure of due diligence? If you make bad loans, you should fail as a business.

Yeah, thats what I was getting at. Someone will be punished, not by the state putting them in a cage, but by not being able to borrow as much in the future.

[pcosmar]

then prisons would be an appropriate punishment when debts can't be expected to be paid back

Why??
Prisons are expensive to build and staff and maintain.
The debt could not be paid by an inmate, in fact more would be spent on upkeep.

How could anyone think this was ever a good idea? (likely the reason they no longer exist)

[ababba]

if you're just saying we need a balance between too much fear of irresponsible loans and not enough, we agree.

No the point is that responsible loans can default. You don't know in advance which ones will, it's called uncertainty and it exists.

In my example, every loan was responsible. Each borrower would repay if able.

[dannno]

Be more careful next time you lend your money.

Yep, lenders need to be responsible too if they are going to attempt to profit through an investment like lending.

[amy31416]

How in the hell does someone in prison ever have a chance of paying off a debt?

Not a very well thought out question.

[FrancisMarion]

Big Finance would never allow debtor's prison.
The demand for credit would plummet.
People wound not purchase things unless they had the money.

I haven't read the every post in the thread, but it seems that everyone thinks the amount of loans would stay the same and we would have a huge prison system bulging at the seams with debtors.

I don't see that. I see people taking less loans.

[The Free Hornet]

Big Finance would never allow debtor's prison.
The demand for credit would plummet.
People wound not purchase things unless they had the money.

I think jkr's post was closest to the truth:

the UNITES STATES OF AMERICA *is* a debtors prison

L00k around...

We're just not intended to recognize the prison on the outside.

[Acala]

If someone owes you money, you have the right to get that money back or equivalent property. Any judicial system, whether public or private, can handle that. What you don't have the right to is to enslave someone because they owe you money.

So you think that if we enter into an agreement where I agree to pay you fifty bucks for a concert ticket and I never show up because I got sick or lost my fifty bucks, that you should be able to use force to come and take fifty bucks from me?

[The Gold Standard]

So you think that if we enter into an agreement where I agree to pay you fifty bucks for a concert ticket and I never show up because I got sick or lost my fifty bucks, that you should be able to use force to come and take fifty bucks from me?

If you didn't pick up the tickets then no, of course not. If you were sent the tickets with the agreement to pay for them, and then never did, then I can absolutely use force to get my money from you. I can't use force to take your car, or $100, but I can to get the $50 owed me.