Consumer borrowing unexpectedly surges

Whatever happened to the time tested philosophy of bla bla bla?

Where have you been, Mars?

The 21st century happened.

Out sourcing, job insecurity, layoffs by the tens of thousands, diminishing wages, prices on ESSANTIALS rising much much faster than anyone's salary, you know...things like that?

Telling people not to spend money unwisely, (while always good advice) presumes that people are in trouble because they are spending unwisely.

If that presumption isn't true, (and frankly I doubt it is true for most families) than all that sage advice is not only worthless, but somewhat insulting, too.

You're all over the place. You talk about the prices of essentials rising, but then in another thread you'll say that you don't think inflation is a problem and that it's actually ok with you.

And about the spending money unwisely part. We've been through this already.

I'm not sure how you could make an argument that most families financial problems are not caused by unnecessary spending. We live in a consumer economy. Our economy thrives off of people SPENDING. No one needs an iPhone. No one needs an iPod. No one needs a 60 inch television.

Are you seriously going to tell me that most families in financial trouble couldn't have cut back on their spending, thereby reducing their financial burden? SERIOUSLY?

Most habitual smokers spend about $200/mo in my area, based on cig prices. So that's only ONE item that could be cut out of the budget, allowing for a huge weight to be lifted off the shoulders at the gas pump. I realize quitting smoking can be hard, but what's harder...quitting smoking, or dealing with the potential burden of bankruptcy, home forclosure, etc?
 
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Whatever happened to the time tested philosophy of bla bla bla?

Where have you been, Mars?

The 21st century happened.

Out sourcing, job insecurity, layoffs by the tens of thousands, diminishing wages, prices on ESSANTIALS rising much much faster than anyone's salary, you know...things like that?

Telling people not to spend money unwisely, (while always good advice) presumes that people are in trouble because they are spending unwisely.

If that presumption isn't true, (and frankly I doubt it is true for most families) than all that sage advice is not only worthless, but somewhat insulting, too.

That presumptiom IS true as Americans have not been saving. In fact Americans seem to be spending MORE than they make.

Driving the Economy with Negative Savings Rates

[COLOR="blue"]In the post-World War II era, Americans were generally diligent savers and managed to squirrel away ever-increasing amounts of their disposable income. Then, suddenly, the trend was abruptly broken in the early 1980s. Americans have yet to recover. In 25 years, we have driven our savings rate under zero for two consecutive years - something unprecedented in our post-Great Depression history[/COLOR]

So don't blame it all on the last 7 years when overspending is a 25 year trend.
 

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