Yesterday I talked to my colleague in Beirut with finance background about the Lebanese "phenomenon": How come I see more SUVs here than in European countries that didn't go through such economical crisis? And I know how ridiculously low the salaries are here. Here is what happened: people were loaded up with loans and mortgages. Hyper-inflation happened, so those who had dollars had some time window in which they could pay off the debt very easily, like $200k worth property was paid off with $10k, because the loan on the paper was in lira. Magic. How is this even possible? Property was built, someone got paid for the labour, land and materials, now you get all this miraculously almost for free. How is that labour, land and material worth only 10k? But this isn't how the math and laws of physics work, someone paid for this, right? So those with lira savings in the bank paid off the debts of those who either had dollar cash or family abroad. Do I get it right @Saifedean Ammous, @Soolyโก๏ธุณููู ๐ฑ๐ง๐ง๐ช๐ฆ๐ช๐ฆ๐ด? In some sense, the crisis turned out to be good for some people here. I am wondering what parents are telling their children here. Would not paying off the debt when you could be more fair and reasonable at all? A young man in SUV (you won't see a new one, only from years when the loans were possible), should be proud of himself that he or parents "outsmarted" the system? "Pity the nation..", I hope this will help people get more distance to the money.
