"Capitalism without bankruptcy is like Christianity without hell"
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Leave out hell and you get a religion without consequences; leave out bankruptcy and you get an economy without discipline. Frank Borman, an astronaut better known for Apollo-era cool than economic polemics, lands a blunt, streetwise analogy: systems need credible punishment to keep believers honest. The line works because it’s not arguing capitalism is moral; it’s arguing capitalism is procedural. Bankruptcy is the non-negotiable gravity that makes risk-taking real rather than a costume party financed by someone else.
The subtext is aimed at a familiar American loophole: we love free markets right up until failure arrives, then we suddenly discover the virtues of rescue. Borman’s phrasing carries an edge of resentment at “privatize gains, socialize losses” capitalism, where institutions grow confident that they’re too important to be allowed to crash. In that world, incentives mutate. Risk becomes a rational strategy because the downside is padded by bailouts, political pressure, or clever accounting. The market turns into a faith-based system: belief, slogans, and ritual optimism standing in for accountability.
Context matters. Coming out of the 20th century’s cycles of boom, bust, and government backstops, the quote reads as a protest against moral hazard, not against compassion. Bankruptcy, like hell, is less about sadism than about enforcement: a boundary condition that makes the rest of the story believable. It’s also revealing that an astronaut makes the case; spaceflight is a culture of checklists, failure modes, and consequences. In Borman’s universe, you don’t get to repeal physics. He’s saying you shouldn’t be able to repeal failure, either.
The subtext is aimed at a familiar American loophole: we love free markets right up until failure arrives, then we suddenly discover the virtues of rescue. Borman’s phrasing carries an edge of resentment at “privatize gains, socialize losses” capitalism, where institutions grow confident that they’re too important to be allowed to crash. In that world, incentives mutate. Risk becomes a rational strategy because the downside is padded by bailouts, political pressure, or clever accounting. The market turns into a faith-based system: belief, slogans, and ritual optimism standing in for accountability.
Context matters. Coming out of the 20th century’s cycles of boom, bust, and government backstops, the quote reads as a protest against moral hazard, not against compassion. Bankruptcy, like hell, is less about sadism than about enforcement: a boundary condition that makes the rest of the story believable. It’s also revealing that an astronaut makes the case; spaceflight is a culture of checklists, failure modes, and consequences. In Borman’s universe, you don’t get to repeal physics. He’s saying you shouldn’t be able to repeal failure, either.
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| Topic | Witty One-Liners |
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