Tag Archives: consumer debt

Appearances are all that seem to matter in our society today. Dying in debt will be common place in the coming years. Fully 21% of Americans say they don’t think they will be able to pay off their debts — including their car, credit cards, student loans and mortgages — in their lifetime. Our debt addict society is dying of an overdose.

It's impossible to pinpoint when and where the next crisis will spring from but, looking at the actual U.S. consumer debt data today, it's not likely that consumer debt will be the trigger point of the next major capital market meltdown...

How much consumer debt is too much? Today’s infographic uses extensive data from Equifax to try and answer this question.

A lack of discipline, inability to delay gratification, failure to understand basic mathematical concepts, materialistic envy, absence of critical thinking skills, and a delusionary view of the world have left the majority of Americans broke and in debt. Let me explain further.

In the third quarter 2007 the American consumer was way out of shape when it came to the percentage of debt payments to disposable income, hitting a 30-year high at 14%... Today the ratio is nearing 30-year lows! Could this be good news for the markets???

16 point 7 trillion dollars. That is our current national debt. 12 point 8 trillion dollars. That is the amount households carry in mortgage and consumer debt. We are now addicted to debt to lubricate the wheels of our financial system. There is nothing wrong with debt per se, but it is safe to say that too much debt relative to how much revenue is being produced is a sign of economic problems. At the core of our current financial mess is how we use debt as a parachute for any problem. [Unfortunately,] addictions are never easily cured and we have yet to come to terms with our insatiable appetite for debt. Words: 850

Saving rates continue to fall. As full-time employment remains elusive, the average American continues to resort to debt, and governmental support, to fill the gap between waning real incomes and their expected standard of living....[This] will continue to impede economic growth until such time as either debt returns to levels that are conducive for higher levels of personal savings or incomes rise. [Words: 1322; Charts: 7]

What happens when the stimulus is over and the Fed begins to tighten again? Where will demand come from to get Main Street back, create jobs, raise middle class wages? Not from big businesses. Certainly not from Wall Street. Not from exports. Not from government. So, where? That question is the big unknown hanging over the U.S. economy. Until there’s an answer, an economic “recovery” for anyone other than big corporations, Wall Street, and the wealthy is a mirage. Words: 1279