Americans living beyond their means (Economist Paul Kasriel sees party ending, hangover beginning)

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/proof-americans-living-beyond-means/story.aspx?guid=%7B66122EA ^ | 9-9-07 | HERB GREENBERG

[Hydroshock]

You pegged it.

[Hydroshock]

The Motley Fool’s Credit Center features several more mind-blowing statistics:

Total consumer credit: $1.7 trillion.
Credit card debt carried by the average American: $8,562.
Total finance charges Americans paid in 2001: $50 billion.
Percent of U.S. households deemed credit worthy by the lending industry: 78%.
Number of credit card holders who declared bankruptcy last year: 1.3 million.

http://www.fool.com/ccc/secrets/secrets.htm

[Badeye]

Ave credit card debt was $8,000 when Bush was elected. Now it is down to $4000.

We’ve done very well in that regard during his time in office as well.

[LibLieSlayer]

He is as informed as Pat Robertson.

LLS

[goodnesswins]

Thanks for my first morning chuckle....soooo true.

[Sig Sauer P220]

Americans: Buying things they don’t need, with money they don’t have, in order to try to impress people who don’t care.

[wbill]

I am an engineering type, to me the glass is twice the size it needs to be to do it’s task.

I'm an engineer, too. I think that it would be far better to keep 1/2 the water in a redundant glass.

[VegasCowboy]

The difference now, though is that the taxpayers are expected to bail out the mortgage companies.

Really? I'm sure that's news to the 91 mortgage companies that have gone belly up so far this year. You should tell them when the bail-out is coming. They'll be thrilled!

[B4Ranch]

;)

Nice call

[SuziQ]

I seem to remember articles exactly like this in the late 80's and early 90's; Americans too much in debt and living beyond their means. Don't remember too many of them while x42 was President. Then they started up again when George W. Bush started talking about tax cuts again.

Could be a coinkydink, but I don't think so.

[rb22982]

Not really, it’s just been refinanced into mortgages more than being paid down. Which at the rates for most of the last 5 years is an overall positive for the consumer though.