But then, if
you're a too-big-to-fail bank, and someone else
(ultimately the US taxpayer) will pick up the tab if those credit cards "go
wrong," and are "misused," why not chase
down as many poor-risk (but credit-card-needy) folks as you can, and issue as
many credit cards to them as you possibly can?
=================
When you add
up all the forms of consumer debt in this country -- medical bills, mortgages,
credit cards, student loans, car loans, and other forms of indebtedness -- the
Federal Reserve Bank of New York says the total amount owed by consumers is
now more than $11.5 trillion . These runaway debts are not just another big
bill the taxpayer may well
have to pay to the banks someday soon. They're
a burden to individuals and families -- and an obstacle to economic recovery.
The banks
pay out huge fees to advertisers, psychologists, and other consultants so that
all of their solicitations and offers are as persuasive as possible. So first they'll convince Americans to borrow
money -- something that's easier to do now that the banks' own recklessness has
left many people with no alternative but to borrow. Then, when billions of dollars' worth of
those loans turn out to be unpayable, they'll blame the very same consumers
they've just prodded, pressured, and persuaded into borrowing! And then we'll
all be subject to another round of lectures about 'reckless consumers' who are
'living beyond their means' -- even as we, the ultimate suckers, are writing
fat checks to the people who got rich convincing
them to borrow the money in the first place!
So who's really indebted to whom around
here?
The horrible
truth is that Americans have literally become indentured servants to their
lenders, after being manipulated into borrowing money, by the culture they live
in, and then chained to bad debts by their FICO scores (a measure
of personal credit worthiness).
There are
those who will fight any attempt to rescue underwater homeowners on the grounds
that it would "reward the undeserving" -- and will then fight just as
hard to protect banks from the
consequences of their own actions. They'll lecture Americans on their
"exorbitant" borrowing while rescuing the institutions that spent
billions of dollars persuading them to borrow in the first place.
But the real
debt in this nation is the one that bankers owe the rest of the country. And as long as our politicians are allowed to
rescue banks while ignoring consumers, it's a debt that will continue to go
unpaid. And it will continue to grow.
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
2
2
1
