No deal in North Korean bonds.

• Author: DeRosa, David
• Position: Frontline

North Korea, the original communist deadbeat nation, says it wants to issue government bonds for the first time in 50 years.

What a deal--citizens will be getting the privilege of subscribing to a bond issue floated by dictator Kim Jong II.

North Korea unveiled the plan at the annual session of the Supreme People's Assembly last month, according to the official Korean Central News Agency.

Put on your rose-colored glasses and you might be deluded into thinking this is a sign that North Korea is moving toward a market economy.

Hardly so. These bonds are what the late currency authority Dr Franz Pick might have called "certificates of guaranteed confiscation".

This is no different than a totalitarian government seizing private savings.

The bonds will mature in 10 years...