A green piggy bank stands beneath a floating gold halo with scattered coins beside it.

Original artwork, not a still

Frank Borman

Capitalism without bankruptcy is like Christianity without hell.

Behind the line

What it means

Our interpretation.

The speaker compares capitalism to Christianity: each needs its ultimate consequence to make sense. Just as faith without hell loses its threat, markets without bankruptcy lose their discipline. It is a claim that failure must be possible for risk and reward to mean anything.

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