Consumer Debt

Attitudes about spending changed drastically. At this point, more people had access to credit cards because credit card companies stopped limiting their customer base to the wealthy, and began issuing cards to people with moderate to low incomes (Garon, 2012, CNN World). This gave Americans a way to purchase goods and services immediately, even if they didn’t have the cash on hand. The seven to eight percent savings rate maintained in the United States from the 1960s to the 1980s plummeted to less than two percent, and remained so until the first decade of the 21st century (Melicher & Norton, 2014, p. 168).

The main argument throughout this documentary is that credit cards are the main cause of the debt crisis, which occurred in 2006 in America. Credit cards are portrayed throughout this documentary to carry negative consequences, aiding in the corruption of the system, and ultimately creating debt problems that America faces as a nation. The main question we are left with is, can we as a nation live without credit cards?

We as americans seem to have a very serious problem. By doing some research I have been able to conclude some intresting ideas on what to do to fix our debt problem. First of all we need to stop bwing in wars, the more that we lose the more that we are going to be hurt and deeper in the hole of debt we will go. Second we need to stop paying our RETIRED U.S. presidents so much money it's not helping the fact that they get so much. We need to also need to stop buying so much imported goods. If we can accomplish these simpe tasks we can fix a lot of our debt problems and be a better country.

Not only for those seeking to retire, the business motivated economy has transfigured how one must live in order to live comfortably. Building credit through credit cards is often perceived to be the only way in order for a buyer to appear credible. Yet in the quest for the optimal credit score people enter into debt. Considering and evaluating the risks and benefits to credit cards may contribute to opinions towards those flimsy pieces of plastic.

I believe the debt facing America is one of America's largest problems to this day. America is over 18 trillion dollars in debt. Politicians always speak of reducing the debt, however it has not been done. The debt of America has not even been paused for an extremely long time. According to, taxpolicycenter.org only 55% of Americas spending is mandatory. This means that America may be able to reduce spending by 45%. The main priorities America spends it’s money on is social security, unemployment, food and agriculture, transportation, medical and health care, and veterans benefit. These things are very important, but it makes one wonder, where is the other 45% going? Citizens of America has always said that America, indeed the best country

Evaluation: This article, posted on April 1, 2016, was originally published on TheConversation.com. Throughout the article, the author cites sources that come from 2012-2017, with the majority of them coming from 2015-2016. Moreover, these cited websites are credible, well-known, and have information that can be corroborated with other sources. Some of these sites included The Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, and a report from the Federal Reserve. Moving on, the author, Mechele Dickerson, is an expert on this topic. Dickerson received both her B.A. and J.D. from Harvard University and currently works as a professor of law at the University of Texas at Austin. Here, she teaches classes on consumer law, debt and spending to law and undergraduate students. In her current research, she explores causes and consequences of consumer debt and how the culture

     With religion playing an important role in the average Americans lives, consumerism began to grow in the white and blue-collar workers. Their families started to spend extra cash instead of saving it. Washing machines, dryers, and new cars became commonly bought items. The Homeowner who needed some extra cash, but couldn’t work enough hours to purchase that item when he needed it, started to use personal credit. This began the craze of credit cards. ”The Diner Club” introduced the first credit card in 1950: By the 1970s the ubiquitous plastic credit card had revolutionized personal and family finance”(Henretta, pg.790). The awareness of addition free time was aware

According to a report, twenty-four states have attempted to pass legislation limiting credit card marketing at colleges. Only Louisiana, Arkansas, New York, and West Virginia have been successful. Where legislatures and governors have faltered, colleges have picked up the cause. West Virginia University banned credit card rewards altogether. The University of Minnesota banished credit card companies from campus grounds. Although, large public campuses are having a challenging time handling the credit card campus “bug”; small, private, and liberal arts colleges are running a more effective campaign against the card companies. Their smaller campuses and hefty private school tuitions decrease the incentive to have card companies fill their bank accounts (Par.

On a periodic basis, the Federal reserve releases key statistics related to credit card debt in America. With almost 2,000,000,000 credit cards in use while in the hands of almost 200,000,000 individual credit card holders, there is no denying the popularity of these little pieces of plastic. Through May of 2015, Americans were responsible for $901 billion in credit

The economy relies heavily on consumer spending, which it requires people to borrow and go into debt.The system cannot function if borrowers don't pay up their debts or if they don’t have the amount of money to be able to pay for it. Responsible credit card debt is good for the economy because it means spending is occurring and the owner can afford to pay for their debt at any time. The economy suffers when no one is using their credit cards or toward too many people not being able to pay off their credit card debts. It's an economic cycle that has to be sustained you have to have consumption, (Moody’s, 2013).

In May 2009, President Obama stated, “The credit card act was intended to uphold basic standards of fairness, transparency, and accountability (Lindow).” Is this to say that credit card companies were deliberately deceiving consumers to capitalize on profits? Unfortunately, the answer is yes: profit was not the concern of this act, as the banks had abnormally high profit margins. What was in question, however, was the approach of generating these favorable profits for banks (Warren). The Credit Card act provides protection for young consumers with specific provisions such as: fix interest rates, 21 day grace period, the right to opt out of adverse changes in terms, a 21 year age requirement and clearer agreements for transparency.

The famous author and playwright, Thomas Dekker was lucky enough to work with some of the most popular and well-respected writers of his time that includes the name of Ben Johnson. Nonetheless, irrespective of the number of plays that he did, mostly in collaboration with others, he was always confronted with legal issues pertaining to financial matters. He was also imprisoned and that too more than once. He was imprisoned for more than three years for the first time (Bellinger 240). Yet again, he found himself in debt of forty pounds in the year 1612 for which he was sent to King's Bench Prison for almost seven years. Because he was imprisoned for indebt issues, he developed negative feelings against the attitude of the king towards the people who were not able to pay their debt. When one reads his analysis, it is pretty clear that he was not fond of the government at that time. It is important here to mention the different kinds of debt. One kind of debt is the one that is forced on a person without that person being responsible for it, but is only a result of lack of concern towards financial matters. In his book The Lantern and the Candlelight, he has explained extensively the way of living of the people during the late sixteenth and early seventeenth century. Moreover, he also writes about the injustice of the debtor's towards those who were in debt. When writers write about things that they have experienced themselves, there is a special

The question of whether credit card companies should market on campuses or not, brings many different opinions, some of which are driven by personal experience and some that are driven by profit. There are those who do not agree with this because they know what they have gone through with credit card debt. There are also those who say they should market on campus because they are adults and contribute to the company’s profit. Even though students are adults and need to earn credit, credit card companies should not market to college students on campus because they are too naive and this results in graduating with too much debt.

In this day and age, credit cards can be a lifesaver at times but can also cause a major financial burden at other times. Credit cards do have their advantages and disadvantages, which we will look at shortly, but by gaining a little knowledge, principle #1, on how to manage them better you will be able to get the most rewards from using them without them becoming a financial problem. We will also look at the CARD Act and see what new changes it brought to the table and how it helped the credit card user. Let us start with the many positive attributes of credit cards.

In the modern world we live in today, technology has been making our lives easy for as long as we can remember. When an average American stands at the cash register to pay, they are likely to pull out some form of cards such as Visa, American Express, Master card, Capital one or Discover card. All this card mentioned are all called Credit cards. Credit Cards seems to be easy and fast way to pay for purchases when you don’t have cash. Most stores in the United States do not accept check, they prefer cash or credit cards. Although, there are so many positive reasons to own a credit card, it can also cause many problems if one isn 't wise with making sending. One main reason why people set up businesses is with the sole aim of making profit. Credit Card companies must make profit to help the company provide money to their customers. To do this, these companies have set up many ways to squeeze money extra money from their customers. They designed ways such as charging late fees and inactive fees to make money. As a result of this, many people find themselves in huge debt. With this intention, government have to find a way to prevent people from getting into debt. They developed an amendment that would prevent credit card companies from squeezing extra money from their customers. On May 22, President Barack Obama signed the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009 into law.The Credit Card Act of 2006 deals with the limitations of fees such as the