Reflections 19th April

The nature of invisible debt.

Growth is a ravenous beast; all the more so when the growth is demanded by those who don’t have skin in the game. Then it is all about appearances; a convincing story to tell, knowing people won’t check the substance.

It is the mentality and culture of Potemkin villages, something rapidly put together and just convincing enough to fool somebody passing by without stopping to look carefully. People have built entire careers creating corporations that are Potemkin villages, where instead of paint, it is a series of acquisitions and ambitious, if flawed, strategies that beguile the unwary. Caveat emptor: networks of privilege, easy debt, and golden parachutes.

There is something particular about debt incurred without the intention of repaying it. It is not recklessness or malign intent. It is calculation: that the bill will fall due after you have left the building, taken the bonus, and moved on. The debt becomes someone else’s problem. It is the sort of debt that administers the coup de …