Developing countries owe Chinese lenders at least $1.1 trillion, according to a new data analysis published Monday, which says more than half of the thousands of loans China has doled out over two decades are due as many borrowers struggle financially.
Overdue loan repayments to Chinese lenders are soaring, according to AidData, a university research lab at William & Mary in Virginia, which found that nearly 80% of China’s lending portfolio in the developing world is currently supporting countries in financial distress.
For years, Beijing marshalled its finances toward funding infrastructure across poorer countries – including under an effort that Chinese leader Xi Jinping branded as his flagship “Belt and Road Initiative,” which launched a decade ago this fall.
That funding flowed liberally into roads, airports, railways and power plants from Latin America to Southeast Asia and helped power economic growth among borrowing countries. Along the way, it drew many governments closer to Beijing and made China the world’s largest creditor, while also sparking accusations of irresponsible lending.
If you owe the bank $100, that’s your problem. If you owe the bank $1.1 trillion, that’s the bank’s problem.
More like if you owe the mob $100 and you fail to pay, you might get a broken finger. If you owe the mob $1 million and fail to pay they will gift you cement boots.
Is this actually true. The more someone owes the less likely you are to outright kill them cause that’s a 100% loss on your investment. Brutal torture or kidnappings seem more likely to me. After that organ harvesting or forfitting assets.
It’s more about sending a message to everyone else.
Outside of the movies? Not really. Not actually sure of the change in death rates in owing a small amount vs a large amount but loan sharks breaking limbs borrowers’ or offing was actually pretty rare from what Steven Dubner or Leavitt found (can’t remember which). Although my great uncle Michael might disagree with that finding. But nobody has seen him since he did not pay back that large loan he took from the mob in the 70s.
That said, there are other ways to put pressure on a borrower that do not permanently decrease productivity. A borrower has a bigger incentive to pay things back if a loved one’s life is on the line. That might explain great uncle Michael’s disappearance since he was pretty much disowned by the rest of the family.
Those are expensive cement boots for both the mob and that poor dude.