Credit — unlimited by real money, real savings, real output… or real demand — leaks into all the corners of commerce. As time goes by, everything it touches begins to bend, warp, or rot.

In a healthy economy, with a limited amount of money, everyone is careful about wasting it.

Government deficits are limited, so as to avoid driving up interest rates; programs financed on credit are funded reluctantly… and spending is controlled. Private borrowers, too, clutch their wallets tightly; they know their purchasing power is limited.

Lenders watch their steps; they don’t have unlimited funds to lend out. They study balance sheets and ask questions. Their eyes narrow when a potential borrower walks in the door. They sweat when he walks out with their money. Borrowers and lenders alike fret and worry.

Unlimited credit, which nobody earned, nobody saved, and nobody really ever expects to be paid back, is nobody’s problem. It creates unlimited opportunities for chicanery.

Here, I describe a few. This is meant to entertain and inform, by the way, not to encourage criminality or recklessness.

Get Free Food

“Numerous times, I’ve been offered a deal that’s tough to refuse,” my chief researcher, EB Tucker, tells me.

Many people receiving food stamps would like to buy something they can’t get at the grocery store… And they’re ready to bargain.

These days, “food stamps” are actually preloaded plastic cards. You use them with a code, like you would a debit card.

“Say the card is loaded with $400 in funds for ‘food assistance,'” EB explains… “They offer me use of the card for $0.50 on the dollar of benefit used. I could take the card to Whole Foods and buy grass-fed beef tenderloin filet for $50 a pound. I can also buy sustainably harvested Maine lobster tails and a bevy of side dishes. Total cost $400. Swipe the card, enter the pin, and I’m out the door.