Americans are weighed down by about $900 billion in credit card debt, according to the latest available Federal Reserve figures.

Banks battered by the credit crisis bleed tens of billions from the losses.

The largest credit-card banks each set aside between $1 billion and $3.5 billion in the third quarter for losses on card loans as their profits plummeted.

Credit card charge-off rates, balances written off as unpaid, rose to 6.8 percent in August, up 48 percent from a year earlier, according to Moody's Investors Service.


The biggest credit card lenders include Discover Financial Services LLC, Bank of America Corp., Citigroup Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co., Capital One Financial Corp., American Express Co. and HSBC Holdings.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081113/ap_on_bi_ge/meltdown_credit_car

Go ahead - Blame Bush and the government if it makes you feel better but us Americans loading up our credit cards and buying houses and driving autos that we can't afford - that's the real answer to the economic bubble bursting. Americans can't buy anything else because none of it is paid for. I will concede that government and bank policies contributed to the problem but Americans took advantage of those policies and they are the ones that owe these debts. Americans signed these contracts, not the government or Bush. The American people that lived as such must assume most of the blame for the economic crisis we are now in.

Now, go read the article. Consumer advocates want to find a way to forgive some of these credit card debts.

UNBELIEVABLE - ONLY IN AMERICA

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081113/ap_on_bi_ge/meltdown_credit_cards

That is very true but it doesn't make it hurt any less.

the only ones to blame for the lending crisis is the lenders


if they do not qualify do not give them the money

granted some are due to free trade agreement job loss but that started way b4 bush

but if they did not give money almost anyone this would have never happened

i feel it is the plan of the federal reservee to take control of the country and the world

hopefully obama and the dems will abolish doing busines with the federal reserve (it is a private entity

I think the blame lies with both, with the Lenders giving the loans, cards etc to people who really couldn't afford it (and they knew it) and a lot of the time really downplaying (or even lying about) the risks involved with some of these questionable loans. But, too, most Americans have the "now" mindset, I must have it now. And not only must I have it now, it must be at least as good as my sisters/neighbors/boss/bestfriend, if not better. A lot of people are going to come to very harsh reality of the term "living within your means."

A lot of advantage was taken on both parts. And quite frankly, harsh as it sounds, I don't think anyone should be bailed out. Let it all fail, then start over from scratch. It won't kill us and then maybe some lessons will be re-learned.

the point is the lender is the one at risk

if they risk it they know they can lose it

the borrower well hey they got what they wanted (at least for a while)

the lender should be permitted to go under (they did not operate their business in a profitable manner)


if you or i do this no govt money comes our way and the govt is the cause for a lot of small business failures

they want big business and that is why they are bailing them out

sorry but i have no concern for gm (i was going to buy a new imapla in 94-95 i think wanted nothing that was nt a standard option but they would not put them together)

well when you do not give the customer what they want and you have it and they are willing to pay for it (i said i did not care if it took 6 monthes to get it) and time is not a major issue (then you deserve to go out of business


but ya know what if gm goes out of business ford honda chrysler will be hiring

so oh well

Actually, better examples would have been the "foreign" car companies. My sister works for Chrysler, brother-in-law for Ford and they are in danger of going belly-up as well. My sister's on notice that she may not have a job as of 12/31.

Merry Christmas!

But, I agree with you. Using those specific examples, they did not keep up with the market demands. They felt they could keep on doing what they'd always done and we had to like it and live with it. Sadly, they are finding out, about 30 years after their first lesson in this, that they are dead wrong.

well if gm goes down it will open a large market share and most that buy gm will go to ford or chyrsler mayb honda


but what i wanted they used to do

they refused to put the interior olor i wnated in the exterior color i wanted

they did not want to build it they wanted me to buy off the lot (5-6 dif dealers)

so gm i will never buy new gm ever again no matter how much money i have

I truly believe the market would turn around faster without pushing all that money into it. We would suffer, we would hear the D word more. One thing that history shows, the economy will adjust its self. Is a recession bad? It controls cost and inflation. With what we have done we could be on the path to SUPER-INFLATED COSTS.

I think if we are going to retool the Auto industry we should take a real serious look at it. Outdated technology with a limited source. If we are going to do it maybe we should go all the way and push it into the 21st century. JMO

did you know an american in the 50s went to the auto makers in detriot and told them what they needed to do

and they basically ran him out of town on a rail

guess where he landed

and guess who listened

yep japan

Oh that I believe. I grew up in Detroit, the entire area economy is all about the auto industry. People have been telling them for years that they are outdated and need to move it along. But, they wouldn't listen. It would have cut into their profits, then, to do what was necessary to compete in a world market. Now, there are no profits to cut in to, they're completely uncompetitive and are in a world of hurt. The unfortunate thing, they'll cease to exist but their employees will be left holding the bag, and left with nothing for all their years of hard work.

I beleive if you open up the technology that has been bought and sat on, move to the future there would be jobs for those workers and many more. We have to look ahead and quit surpressing technology of the future. Its there!!!!

The Japanese were listening to American management consultant W. Edwards Deming, who told them they should produce high-quality, durable products, and stand behind their quality with warranties in order to sell their wares internationally. Not all Japanese manufacturers believed Deming, but some invested everything they had into Deming's ideas. One such company was Toyota,


http://www.answers.com/topic/automaker-1


scroll down to 1950–1980

I know a couple of people that have had to use their credit cards for food and medical.

i hate when that happens

but i have had to do it on occasion

I did for gasoline before. But..I ended that real quick.

Of course, for my part, I wasn't including necessities in credit card use. I was referring to "luxury" items that if someone had to pay cash upfront for, would clearly be out of their budget. No offense intended, I'm sorry if I did

Ohhh..it wasn't about what you said. I was just thinking about people that have had no choice but to do that. And..there are those people that did it when they lost their jobs.

My cousin's 19 yr. old son almost died and needed surgery and he was out-of-state. No insurance. The parents had to re-finance their home and max out their charge cards.

But...once they do these things...it's a horrible cycle to get out of that situation.

Yeah, it really is and I feel for those people, I've had to do the same on occasion.