Odious Debt

In international law, odious debt is a legal theory that holds that the national debt incurred by a regime for purposes that do not serve the best interests of the nation, should not be enforceable. Such debts are, thus, considered by this doctrine to be personal debts of the regime that incurred them and not debts of the state. In some respects, the concept is analogous to the invalidity of contracts signed under coercion.

Read more about Odious Debt:  Origin, Reception, Application

Famous quotes containing the words odious and/or debt:

    “To depend upon a profession is a less odious form of slavery than to depend upon a father.”
    —Virginia Woolf (1882–1941)

    “A good debt is not as good as no debt.”
    —Chinese proverb.