U.S. Consumer Borrowing Rose $5.2 Billion in February
Consumer credit increased $5.2 billion for the month to $2.54 trillion, the Fed said today in Washington. In January, credit gained $10.3 billion, more than a previously reported increase of $6.9 billion. The Fed’s report doesn’t cover borrowing secured by real estate, such as home-equity loans.
$2.54 Trillion seems like a great deal to me. Based on a population of 300 million people that would mean $8,467 for every person in just personal debt. USA GDP = $13 trillion. USA federal debt = $9.4 trillion (based on the USA government accounting - so way understating the true debt). USA federal budget $3 trillion.
Related: Americans are Drowning in Debt - Too Much Personal Debt (UK, £1.3 trillion in 2006 - even more than the USA) - Incredibly Bad Customer Service from Discover Card
Comments
6 Comments so far
[...] starting in the 1990s … “Consumers are starting to realize that they’ve been living in a fantasy world,” says Lyle Gramley, a former Fed governor who is now senior economic adviser at Stanford [...]
[...] alarmist reports, the economy is in serious trouble. The decades of spending beyond their means (for consumers and those the consumers elected to run government) are creating a very difficult situation. And the [...]
“Starting back in about 2005, the American consumer reached the point that they could no longer service ever-increasing amounts of debt…”
I actually hope Germany sticks to their no Sunday opening policy. One day without full blast consumption pressure is probably good for people…
[...] exist and buying what you can’t afford is fine. Just convince people to go spend more money, run up their credit card debt, borrow against their house, as long as everyone believes it can continue. That can work for awhile [...]
“The Federal Reserve reported yesterday that borrowing through credit cards and other consumer loans dropped $7.94 billion in November, the biggest decline in 65 years of record-keeping…”