Margaret Atwood vs. debt

[bandwraith at aol.com]

Dave:
  Atwood:

"In good times we float around on it as if on a helium-filled balloon;
we rise higher and higher, and the balloon gets bigger and bigger,
until -- poof! -- some kill joy sticks a pin into it and we sink. But
what is the nature of that pin?

Another friend of mine used to maintain that airplanes stayed up in
the air only because people believed -- against reason -- that they
could fly: Without that collective delusion sustaining them, they
would instantly plummet to earth. Is "debt" similar? In other words,
perhaps debt exists because we imagine it.

Another part of the human imaginative debt/credit structure has to
do with payback time -- the time when you have to pay the debt
back, or else suffer the consequences."


This is perfect. Thanks Dave.
I can only assume that Ms. Atwood is slyly referring to ATD.

But the question remains: "What is the nature of that pin?"

Pyn's pin- a pen?