Status Updates From The Long Shadow of Default:...

As a kid, I always wondered why "Lend/Lease" got so much attention when discussing WWII. It was held in awe, which didn't make much sense to me. Now I think I know why it is so well regarded: because unpaid WWI allied war debts were so politically unpopular in the US. Avoiding that raw nerve with the Lend/Lease program was a great political achievement for FDR.

Shares a couple of key points that the OTHER book in war debts chose to ignore: even with the debt that Britain owed the US, she was still a net CREDITOR. The book also points out that Britain insisted on payment terms that made the debts unmarketable to retail buyers. Britain wanted to deal with the US because she expected to be able to negotiate the terms down in the future. IMO she was negotiating in bad faith.

ANOTHER book on Britain's failure to pay its WWI debt to the US? Well, I find the debate very relevant. After all, what people really mean when they believe we should fight Russia in Ukraine is that the US taxpayer should pay for it. It was the same for WWI. When Europeans got mad at the US for expecting repayment, what they really meant was that the US taxpayer should pay for Europe's foolish decisions.