These funds, however, lent Argentina money, while the country promised to pay back all of it, plus interest. I wouldn't like to get back less than I was promised, or even less than I lent in the first place.
I guess, even with the haircut settlement, even then they would have earning a lot of money -- but they where very greedy.
Our financial system should not foster poor greed!
The hedge fund guys are just debt sharks. They're contributing nothing of value to anyone - possibly not even to themselves, because it's not so unlikely there will be international fallout that massively damages their other holdings.
Except if they didn't exist, then bonds like those sold by the Argentine government would require higher interest rates, because the original buyer would have to assume the entire risk of default, rather than having the option to transfer part of that risk in the future. That'd be bad for national governments trying to raise funds at low cost.
The point remains - giving vulture speculators the ability to hold entire populations hostage is political special pleading, not sound growth-based economics.
Vulture funds give nothing to society. They are definitely not a force of good. The comparison to patent trolls is apt.