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Public debt is a necessary evil we must live with

Debt's key attraction is "instantaneousness." [iStockphoto]

Debt is loved and hated in equal measure. Biblically, you become a slave of the debtor.

But that has not stopped us from taking more debt. It is easy to get into debt; it feels like free money till you start paying back. A popular joke on the streets targeting car owners from matatu touts is: anajivuna na gari ni ya loan (you are showing off, yet you got the car on loan) shows our secret admiration for debt.

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