Will subprime auto loans ignite another credit crisis? Fed reports $101 billion in new auto loans between April and June with a sizable portion being in the form of subprime debt.
Buying a car is a big deal given that the sticker price of an automobile is close to the annual per capita income of an American worker. The average car in the US now costs $31,000. That is a healthy amount of money for a regular working person. Since incomes have gone stagnant for well […]
Driving our way into poverty: Subprime auto debt continues to expand while domestic auto production remains weak.
Americans love their cars. Urban sprawl with poorly designed city centers has made driving a near necessity for most people. During the credit crisis, one of the problems that occurred was that too many loans were being made to people that had no ability of paying their debt back. We see this trend in full […]
The shackles of consumer credit in a low rate environment – Banks would rather leverage low rates from the Fed than lend money to cash strapped American households. 15 percent average rate on credit cards and typical savings account rate near 0 percent.
In a world where debt equals the ability to purchase large items, access to debt is king. For this reason banks are the new modern day oligarchy since they have a nearly unlimited line of credit with the Federal Reserve. The public during the credit bubble days had access to nearly unlimited debt via mortgages, […]
Depreciating cars and expensive diplomas fueled by easy debt: 95 percent of consumer debt growth in past 12 months from cars and student loans.
New data from the Federal Reserve continues to highlight a reemergence of debt based consumer spending. Americans are largely buying stuff they can’t afford with money they don’t have. The Fed’s consumer credit report highlights a troubling trend. Over the last 12 months 95 percent of all consumer debt growth has come from people buying […]