The world faces an existential crisis. Whether in communist or capital economies, it relates entirely to impossible levels of private debt. Most neoclassical economists have no understanding at all of private debt. They’ve been diverted by neoliberal claims of national government ‘over-spending’ and growth in the ‘national debt’ (which isn’t debt).

As western governments wrestle impotently with concern about the increasing cost-of-living, and inflation being driven by consumer prices, communist governments, such as the Chinese, seem more alert to the real threat; that of massive private debt default which would generate financial depression.

Why these impossible levels of private debt?

Well, you won’t learn about these in economics’ textbooks. The media occasionally touches upon them, then quickly leaves the scene. It’s all about land prices and the taxing of incomes and purchases, neither of which should exist, because they’re pathological.

There was actually a reason for Leviticus 25:23 saying that the land shall not be sold. Otherwise, ensuing private capitalization of publicly-generated land rent, coupled with the price of usuary, must lead repetitively to quite impossible levels of private debt which the Mosaic Law held must be written off regularly.

We no longer write off private debt. However, we do continue to pump the price of land to impossible heights rather than collect its rent. We bail out the banks who generate all this private debt into land price bubbles which commonly burst every ninth and eighteenth year.

Public capture of rent and the abolition of taxation of work and purchases would bring general prosperity, by doing away with land prices and much private debt, but it ain’t allowed.

We used to do better during the Progressive Era. What happened? The taxing of earned incomes happened. Neoclassical economics gave us the lie at the Great Depression that there was insufficient land rent: There’s always enough.

The situation is threatening. The question must be asked: Cui bono?