Posted on 03/17/2025 7:18:41 AM PDT by delta7
American households have been unable to pay off their debts. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York recently reported that household debt has reached a new all-time high at $18.04 TRILLION.
Americans acquired an additional $93 billion in outstanding payments during Q4 of 2024, with half of this debt finding its way onto high interest credit cards. Credit card debt has also reached a record high at $1.21 trillion. I reported in January that credit card defaults his a 14-year high after skyrocketing by 50% in a one-year period.
Donald Trump said during his campaign that he would like to cap credit card interest fees at 10%, perhaps for a temporary period. There are now bipartisan calls for companies to lower fees, with Congresswomen like AOC and Anna Paulina Luna both championing a 10% credit card cap.
Prior to the pandemic, Americans paid $120 billion annually in credit card interest fees from 2018 to 2020, amounting to $1,000 annually per household. In 2022, consumers were paying $105 billion in interest as it has become the main cost behind having a credit card. Rates on credit cards have doubled in a mere decade from 12.9% in 2013 to 22.8% in 2023.
US Household Debt
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s February 2025 Survey of Consumer Expectations also found that Americans are highly concerned about missing payments, falling into delinquency, or losing their livelihoods. Consumers foresee inflation spreading across the board. In February 2026, the general public believes gas will rise by 3.7%, food by 5.1%, rentals by 6.7%, and medical costs by 7.2%.
Then, around 14.6% of Americans said they believed they would miss a minimum debt payment over the next three months. Americans have not expressed this much concern about missing payments since the early pandemic days of April 2020, when the mainstream media insisted the world was coming to an end.
Aggregate delinquency rates rose 0.1% over a one-quarter period. Mortgage balances increased by $11 billion, hitting $12.6 trillion by December 2024. When choosing between home or auto payments, consumers are prioritizing shelter. Auto loan balances also experienced an $11 billion increase, rising to $1.66 trillion in Q4 2024, but serious delinquencies on auto payments have risen substantially.
Student loan balances increased by $9 billion, and now sit at $1.62 trillion. Students who once thought their loan debt would be forgiven have been notified that their future social security payments will be garnished by the government if they fail to pay.
Most households are a few missed payments away from financial ruin. In fact, 47%, nearly half, of American households currently live paycheck to paycheck. Americans are in an extremely delicate financial situation right now, and this looming debt crisis will not disappear.
“Your hate is on display, do remember, hate is destroying you. Carry on.”
False assertion. I have no hate for you. I just want the readers to understand you.
“Martin Armstrong is now one of the most sought after guest speakers worldwide.”
So widely sought after he has to pay to det on their podcasts and websites.
“You are guilty of the same, trying continuously to smear Martin Armstrong”
I just post facts. It is up to the readers to evaluate those facts and compare them to your posts.
“In any case, your smearing is not working,”
You now have ZERO advocates here. I don’t know how much you are paying but I bet your cash flow is negative.
“for an injustice by the New York “ justice “ system to him 25 years ago….”
GEMINI
Based on the information available, Martin Armstrong’s financial losses and legal troubles stemmed from a scheme that involved:
* Fraudulent activities:
* He engaged in risky and speculative trading, concealing the resulting losses from investors.
* He made misrepresentations to investors to hide these losses.
* He commingled funds from different investors.
* He used funds from newer investors to pay off older ones, resembling a Ponzi scheme.
* He misappropriated investor funds.
* Specifically:
* He collected money from Japanese investors, and improperly mixed those funds with other investor’s money.
* He then used newer investors money to cover losses he had incurred while trading.
* He also had help from the Republic New York Corporation, that produced false account statements.
* The result:
* These actions led to investor losses exceeding $700 million.
* This lead to his arrest, and conviction.
In essence, his losses were the result of fraudulent financial practices that resulted in the loss of investor’s funds.
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