Occupy Wall Street launches a new kind of collection agency

Typically, the way a credit collection agency works is that they purchase the bad debt at pennies on the dollar as the company who owns it has pretty well written it off and wants at least something for it. The collection agency is then free to attempt to collect the full debt or at least a partial collection with the difference between the cost of the debt, and the total collected providing their revenue.

Occupy Wall Street has decided to capitalise on this system of incredibly cheap debt purchases by launching their own collection agency (of sorts). Through this agency and donations they will begin buying up people's debts and forgiving them. Apparently they've done a test run which provided a 30:1 ROI (for every $1 dollar invested, $30 dollars could be forgiven).

Debt forgiveness is a huge piece of the puzzle, this won't stop the economy from sinking, but will help stop people from drowning along with it. All I can say is if you happen to have your debt forgiven (it will be random just as credit agencies randomly purchase debt) have a plan to avoid getting back into that situation. Things are still going to be hard, but for a lot of people that debt weight being lifted off their shoulders would be like winning the lottery. What a great idea, and intelligent way to use the system against itself. Bravo.

The 'Rolling Jubilee' (or 'people's bailout') begins November 15th, 2012.

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Richard Fantin is a self-taught software developer who has mostly throughout his career focused on financial applications and high frequency trading. He currently works for CenturyLink

Nazayh Zanidean is a Project Coordinator for a mid-sized construction contractor in Calgary, Alberta. He enjoys writing as a hobby on topics that include foreign policy, international human rights, security and systemic media bias.