Americans' credit card debt hits a record $1 trillion | CNN Business
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Americans’ credit card debt levels have just notched a new, but undesirable, milestone: For the first time ever, they’ve surpassed $1 trillion, according to data released Tuesday by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Americans’ credit card debt levels have just notched a new, but undesirable, milestone: For the first time ever, they’ve surpassed $1 trillion, according to data released Tuesday by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

    • afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.world
      8·
      1 year ago

      Sure it does. You got ground level which is trust, above that central bank, above that fiat currency, above that companies/people, and above that banks.

      You orders machine from my employer. You put some down and the rest you pay on delivery. To buy the raw materials from middlemen, we put some money down and pay the rest on delivery (or use a po but that is complicated way of nearly the same thing), the middlemen put some money down and pay the rest on delivery, and the employer of them hasnt been paid enough yet so is borrowing some from the bank and is depending on two week payperiods. The employees are renting and owe money at the end of the month to a landlord who is still paying off a mortgage to a bank, who is using deposits that can be summoned at all times…

      The same x amount of money is multiplied. This x amount of money becomes y*x amount of debt. It is all abstractions on abstractions with no bottom. Since even if you say trust is the bottom it is really just trust that the top of this process will continue to work.

      Sleep tight.

      • bongus_urongus@lemmy.world
        4·
        1 year ago

        Wait wait wait., but that just sounds like feudalism with fucking hedge fund bros, real estate speculation, and a bunch of extra goddamn steps…

          • Shardikprime@lemmy.world
            51·
            1 year ago

            Indeed, even Kings would envy us right now. Just even the luxury of having to not slave away for weeks just for a lump of stale moldy bread is a marvel.

            We have an hyper abundance of food at our hands. You can even drink a delicacy called coffee together with another delicacy called cinnamon without murdering countless on the way to your table together with the miracle of milk kept fresh through days or even weeks or months without it even getting a stale whiff.

            There is even more to that, but the luxury of partaking in it and complaining about it, thinking our lives are somehow worse, while trying to destroy what countless generations sacrificed themselves for, knowingly or unknowingly, is the biggest luxury of them all.

      • gila@lemmy.world
        2·
        1 year ago

        Paying a portion later means more cash can flow through the business and provide utility today. Your post implies that every business operating this way is effectively insolvent without access to credit, but even if your employer has the money to pay for the raw materials today, it generally isn’t in their best interest to do so

        • afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.world
          1·
          1 year ago

          Sure. There is going to be variation. Some companies are going to be money empires, I have heard ship builders usually are but can’t confirm that. Plus you got like tech startups that can spend a decade without making a penny.

          And yes it generally isn’t a good idea for a business to pay for everything right away. If they run low on cash they will have to borrow vs delayed payment means an interest free loan. Back in my freelancer days I used to get furious about net-90. Do all the work, lay out all the expenses, and still have to wait 90 days to get paid.

          Without trust the whole thing burns to the ground. Good thing everyone trusts that the banks won’t fuck us over and demand a bailout, that will never happen.

    • quicksand@lemm.ee
      3·
      1 year ago

      Stop making points, but you’re totally right… How I look at it at this point is it’s like gangs… ya I know I owe you 30 trillion, but I’m giving you hundreds of billions a year. And I have more muscle than you. So why would you try to collect when I can kick your ass and you still get enough to pay your debts without conflict… I want someone to correct me, because Ive spent a lot of time trying to understand more nuance to this situation

      Edit: I realize I’ve missed some punctuation. If you’re confused, just ask