its not necesarilly just about owing more than is owed to you. what you owe on your house is merely an obligation on your future income. the bank that lends you the money for your mortgage has also 'borrowed' those funds and has a future obligation to repay those funds on its future income. its seems like it a never ending debt spiral with little or no original asset to support it.
this example is almost correct, but i would change it to the rich guy taking his money back and everyone else in the story demanding their $100 back - that would pretty much explain how the GFC was caused wouldnt it...?
