Posted on 06/05/2006 7:45:47 AM PDT by Hydroshock
TAIPEI (Reuters) - Kathy Chen is an accessories shopowner in Taiwan struggling to pay huge credit card debts on a modest income.
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She is the new breed of "credit card slave."
Hundreds of thousands of Taiwan's credit card holders have racked up mountains of debt, undermining consumer sentiment and underlining the risks facing export-led Asian economies that are trying to crank up domestic consumption as an engine of growth.
Besides Taiwan, where American Express stopped issuing credit cards this year due to rising defaults, Thailand and China are among those that have tightened supervision to avoid the experience of South Korea, where the bursting of a consumer credit bubble badly winded the economy in 2004-2005.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
"Slave" implies a master. With credit cards, the holder is the master, and thus cannot be the slave. Looking at it any other way is just a cop out.
Hard to have a lot of sympathy for these folks since they DID spend the money.
You are correct, round-eyes. They are slaves to their own need for instant gratification.
The masters are the lenders. The cardholders voluntarily became their slaves when they mortgaged their future for immediate satisfaction.
Please read my tag line.
Welcome to FR, Hydroshock. Work hard and prosper.
What was she buying, a pair of gold-plated Manolos every week???
"You mean, I have to PAY for the stuff I buy??"
When I first visited Taiwan in 1989, credit cards were rare. My use of one, even at a major hotel sometimes involved a trip to some back room, a phone call, the filling out of forms, etc.
In 2000 everything had changed. But even today in Taiwan, getting a card is no simple thing. Unlike the US where most people basically just need to fill out a form, in Taiwan they require bank statements and an awful lot of other paper work. It's very difficult for a foreigner living in Taiwan to obtain a card.
For Chinese and Taiwanese, owing money is felt as an awful burden--not just financially, but also in terms of "face."
"bursting of a consumer credit bubble badly winded the economy " A metaphoric cocktail guaranteed to give you gas.
Credit card companies make it too easy for many people to get credit cards. When my kids started college I noticed that there were table set up for the kids to get credit card applications. I warned my kids NOT to get credit cards, since they had no job, and no way to repay it, and I would not repay it. Some kids are graduating with huge credit card bills and huge college loans to repay. My college roommate (1973) owes $120K in credit card bills. She is unable to meet the min. payments each month. She is trying to refi her home loan so she can use her equity to get out of debt. It is a horrible thing for the people who charged themselves into a deep hole and they can't repay it. I told my friend about all the consumer help places you can find on the internet to help you get out of debt. One of them is something like Out Of BK. She has about a million in equity in her Calif. home. But her credit rating is so bad right now. She is in a mess. But she did get herself into this mess.
I see Thailand rapidly heading in this direction. Almost everyone here wants to use a credit card for everything. It is very common to see people at the local supermarket using their credit card to pay off $10 purchases. I am just waiting.
"For Chinese and Taiwanese, owing money is felt as an awful burden--not just financially, but also in terms of "face." "
We could use more of that attitude here. I was raised with it (and I'm not Chinese), but people now are not.
There's a difference between get and use.
I disagree. The holder is the master. A lender is powerless until the holder makes the autonomous decision to use loan money to purchase something beyond his means. At the point where a buyer exceeds his ability to pay a loan back the lender becomes the master, but this is not a case of involuntary servitude, as so many in the press make it out to be.
I noticed that there was no mention that credit debt is largely a self-inflicted injury.
I see ads all day long for things that I find attractive or interesting but I have zero credit card debt. Why? Because I prefer to delay gratification and live as debt-free as possible.
No sleepless nights for me.
sounds like adults making adult decisions balking at the consequences. if you abuse your credit card, that is your fault, nto mine. while I may feel for you, don't expect me to pay your bill, this enabling you to continue the behavior.
having been destitute - with credit cards - i know firsthand the temptations, but...
You cannot volunteer for slavery.
You, obviously, don't know my wife.
:)
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