In Financial Debt? What If You Could Market Your Kidney - Legally?

Last year household debt in America surged to more than $18 trillion, up from $4.6 trillion in 2019. The sources included mortgages, of course. But there were also personal loans, car loans, credit card balances and student education debt.

Twenty-one years ago I was in that pickle. My industry had collapsed. 

In a sense I was ahead of the times. Currently the new usual is that many lines of work are crashing because of cost-efficiency mandates, AI and offshoring. 

In transition, I grabbed survival gigs. They paid peanuts. In the new medium of blogging I presented my argument that I could erase some of that financial burden if I could just sell a kidney. 

The response in phone calls and email was telling. In voices shaking with anxiety cross sections of America shared with me where they were financially and how, yesyesyes, relief could come if only they could put their kidney on some kind of market. 

Noble Prize winner and Stanford economics professor specializing in market design Alvin Roth thinks along the same lines. He analyzes the legalization of kidney sales as an economic transaction. Not only could it solve personal financial problems. It could save lives. About 100,000 are on the waiting list for a kidney. 

In a 2019 survey 60 percent agreed with this point of view. In 2024, The New York Times objectively analyzed this issue.

In his new book "Moral Economics" Roth removes traditional morality and religion from the issue. He envisions it possible to conduct this transaction with clear-minded financial decision-making without winding up being "exploited."

Believe me, if I could have removed a chunk of my debt through such a market transaction I would have felt downright lucky. Not in any way exploited.  Instead, even after launching a successful digital communications boutique it took until 2014 to exit debt and start to reinvest again.

There are innovators in law, finance and economics who could be on the front lines of lobbying for legalizing a regulated approach to a kidney market. Not only could lives be saved. Growing social problems such as homelessness, subpar nutrition and inability to afford medical insurance could also be addressed. 

In my intuitive coaching and tarot-reading sessions the financial distress is palpable. Choices which shouldn't have to be made - food or rent - are being made. Once finances are straightened out, my clients usually can make better decisions about money moving forward.

Earning a Good Living in 2026 Involves Mental Combat. The enemy is usually your own thinking.

Complimentary consultation. No Pressure. Solid Guidance. Contact Jane Genova janegenova374@gmail.com.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

America Not Hiring in 2026: Back to Golden Age of Solopreneurs?

 For hiring, 2025 was a brutal year to search for a job. The Wall Street Journal reports that 2026 could be worse: "At a gathering of CEOs in Midtown Manhattan this month organized by the Yale School of Management, 66% of leaders surveyed said they planned to either fire workers or maintain the size of their existing teams next year. Only a third indicated they planned to hire." The WSJ adds that pullback from adding manpower could be temporary. But given shareholders' demand for cost-efficiency and the continual improvements in AI, chronic unemployment could become standard. However, there is a solution. An old-fashioned one. That's becoming a solopreneur, that is setting up your own business without partners or employees. The model dates back to ancient times.  The golden age of the solo business owner in America had been from the late 1800s to about the mid 1920s.  There had been a wave of immigrants, discrimination against them and few jobs. They drove pushcarts ...
Read more

Newly Minted PhDs in Economics Face Unwelcoming Job Market: Of Course, I Left My PhD in Humanities Off the Resume

Monitor postings on Reddit subunits focused on careers and it's no longer news that PhDs, both newly minted and those already in the labor market, generally are finding the credential an obstacle in the search for a job or even contract assignments. No, not an asset.  Let's cut to the chase. The highly educated have to get smart about this, fast. With some exceptions, I advise those I coach to leave the PhD off job-search materials. The negative assumptions among those hiring range from that you expect too much money to you'll be a know-it-all.  When my boutique collapsed post-9/11 and I had to land a survival job I lopped off everything but the BA. At the interview I dumbed-down my vocabulary. Sure Harvard was started in 1636 but America remains anti-intellectual. In addition, the integration of AI into strategy and operations makes knowledge work in general less and less marketable.  That's the narrative of our times: Advanced degrees having low or no ROI. The result,...
Read more

Harvard and Grades: Leveling the Playing Field

  Today, faculty at Harvard vote on the issue of limiting "A" grades.  The perception has been that too many of those have been handed out but not earned.  It's common for Harvard College graduates to go after jobs in finance and consulting and apply to top law schools. Those require high grades. That's the first cut. Without those grades the edge of the investment of a Harvard education could be diminished. Hell, you could have gone to a state school. Obviously students oppose limiting the number of "A" grades. The playing field on which they compete for a future could be made more level. Earning a Good Living in 2026 Involves Mental Combat. The enemy is usually your own thinking. Complimentary consultation. No Pressure. Solid Guidance. Contact Jane Genova janegenova374@gmail.com.
Read more