[rbg81]

I was always under the impression that most households (especially the bottom 50%) had no savings. While I am not in that situation, I know a fair number of people who are basically living off their credit cards.

It is hard to tell from this excerp if the NYT thinks burning through “excess savings” is a good or bad thing. I suspect that, in private, they think it is very good indeed. To them, anything that makes people feel more threatened and dependent on the Government is music to their ears.

[Shadow44]

The unemployment checks were allowing people to pay off their credit card debt, a lot of people were using the money to set their finances straight and even accrue savings. The average debt load held by Americans dropped significantly during that period.

I know multiple people who used the fact that they were getting the extra money to become debt free.