From Sauvik Chakraverti’s Antidote:

“Mint has a little piece that says one-third of all government expenditure is financed by borrowing, and one-fifth of all expenditure goes towards paying interest. They add that out of every 100 rupees spent, 14 rupees goes towards creating assets, while the rest goes towards salaries – that is, towards consumption. Note that “welfare” and poor relief also have nothing to do with production; they are all matters relating to consumption. Also note that, in India, most of the “consumption” is done by the personnel of The State itself – the politicians and the baboons.

Now, capital consumption is the highway to de-civilization. Progress and civilization has always meant increased saving and investment – that is, the accumulation of capital. This capital, when invested in production, raises the wages of labour and results in an abundance of goods and services for all. This is how, throughout history, civilizations have arisen.

What about those who “invest” in government bonds? Their savings do not go into capital creation or production. They merely finance the consumption activities of The State and they are rewarded with interest that comes from us taxpayers. How can this be called “investment”? It is not. It therefore becomes clear that all government borrowing is nothing but capital consumption – the highway to de-civilization.

I am therefore of the opinion that widespread awareness must be created about the pernicious consequences of putting private savings into government bonds. Investors should be made aware of the fact that they are destroying precious capital in a capital-poor country, and that they would be doing their bit for the nation if they made genuine investments either in the stock market, with the banking system or elsewhere within The Market. Further, public opinion must demand that all these perpetual irredeemable loans be repudiated at once. Those who will lose money have only themselves to blame, for they “invested” their money in an insolvent institution. They did not invest in The Market. So theirs were not “capitalist investments” at all. Throughout history, many foolish people (including the Medicis) have lost fortunes by lending to monarchs. Let this important lesson be learnt once again.”