From: davidm@iconz.co.nz (David Murray)
Date: Sun, 22 Jan 95 09:39:17 PST
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: Re: Why emoney? Why not a web of debt?
Message-ID: <199501221738.GAA10275@iconz.co.nz>
MIME-Version: 1.0
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>To: Censored Girls Anonymous <carolb@barton.spring.com>
>From: davidm@iconz.co.nz (David Murray)
>Subject: Re: Why emoney? Why not a web of debt?
>Cc: 
>Bcc: 
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>
>>Many companies are already founded on "a web of debt".
>>"Sallie Mae (Student Loans), Ginnie Mae (General Loans), and Freddie Mac
>>(Real Estate Loans)," all come to mind at the moment. They're nicely
>>formatted, processed and make even more money for investors as the
>>interest rates change.
>
>Of course the ultimate IOUs these webs of debt are (implicitly, if not
>explicitly) based on are those of the American taxpayer -- which means
>Uncle Sam is playing collection agency, which the usual supporting cast
>of guns and goons.
>
>>So maybe the remailer IOU's, could be traded for the data haven IOU's,
>>and so forth. I think someone does have a credit card IOU situation.
>>The systems, and precedence for debt trading are there (and interest
>>rates are going up again soon, indicated the Fed last week!).
>
>Of course, someone's going to have to package up those IOUs (and make
>people pay interest if anyone is going to make money out of it... (Even
>students pay interest.) Which is why I'm pushing (endlessly, tediously)
>the idea of a special purpose corporation whose job it is to issue IOUs
>(in return for an equivalent amount of cash). The people who buy the IOUs
>get anonymous ecash that anyone (remailers, data vaults, data havens) will
>accept (because it is credible that it will be repaid), and the corporation
>that issues the IOUs gets to use the money it got paid to earn interest
>until the IOUs are cashed in.
>
>>I just wonder who wants to play "collection agency"?
>
>Which is the big problem for community action generally -- as the community
>gets bigger (and more anonymous?) the effectiveness of communal
>disapprobation diminishes (:-)). A special purpose corporation, on the other
>hand, not only has a reputation to protect, and can be sued, but has an
>interest in making its financial/credit rating details as public as possible
>(reassure the customers, and make more intersest income -- although the real
>income is likely to come from fees...)
>
>Cheers,
>
>D.
>