wowbagger On Bankrupcy (Slashdot)

If you are having money problems, but DON'T think bankruptcy is inevitable, what do you do? You cut spending, you pay down your debts, you try to earn more money - in short, you try to avoid bankruptcy (if you are a sane and honorable person).

However, what do you do if you are convinced you are going to have to file bankruptcy? A friend of mine was in just that situation, and consulted a lawyer about what he should do. The lawyer's advice? Trade in his current car for a new car - that way, when he filed BK instead of his credit cards getting ninety cents on the dollar, the car finance company would get ninety cents on the dollar, and the credit card companies would get ten cents on the dollar. At the end of his BK period, he would have a seven year old car rather than a twelve year old car.

Now, consider what that philosophy would mean at a governmental level...