British officials argued that debt interest payments effectively returned money to industry’s disposal.

Evidence

“A large part of the debt is held by the banks and in connection with the monetary system of the country; here the interest will in general be placed at industry’s dispose. Another large part is held by joint stock companies, and the interest is a direct payment to industry; the same is true of interest paid to those individuals who will invest it in private businesses of their own” (HMSO 1927, 99). — Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order, 1693

Categorization

• DEFINE: Clarifies the Treasury’s own framing of debt servicing as a return of capital to industry rather than a burden.
• XREF: Directly relevant to the austerity-as-class-weapon thesis — the same logic driving modern austerity defenders’ claims that debt interest is just transfers among the wealthy.