Stealing from savers - a hell of a trial balloon II

In an update to the previous post, Jonathan Krugman says that kind of plan is already here in the form of ZIRP - Zero Interest Rate Program. 

The ZIRP has had an unintended - and positive - consequence.  Debtors - poor and middle class - who spent willy-nilly during the days where credit was easy are now pushed to pay off the high-interest rate balances on their debt - some at rates of 30% or more.  With a lower interest rate, balances are paid off much faster than they normally would.  While you might see puny interest in your savings accounts, once a debt is paid off, the interest you would have paid to the banks goes right into your pockets. 

Example: If you paid off a $10,000 balance at 24% APR, you would be receiving an effective $200 extra per month.  That's $200 less the bank would be receiving from you each month, which is much, much better than the 0.1% APR the bank would have paid on that $10,000 ($10 a year).  You make a nice profit of $2,390, tax-free.  And, if the creditor discharged your $10,000 debt, it would have become taxable income.

Also, not having any debt at all also denies banks and creditors the ability to make interest and profits off responsible customers.  It may not make you a profitable customer in some banks' eyes, but in others, the ability to manage debt well is sound financial footing, no matter how much income or savings you have.  Paying off the debt is equal to an interest free - 0% - loan.

On the other hand, there could be 180 degree opposite of Cyprus.  In the right situation, that $9.6 trillion the banks are sitting on could be forced to be returned to savers - in exchange for not receiving a lengthy Federal prison sentence for the collapse of the markets in 2008.  That and a few forced Big Bank breakups would work immediate and long-lasting wonders.