December 10,2008
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How Did We Get So Plastic?, Pt. 3 –
– ‘Darn' the torpedoes, go shopping.Just last month (November), our nation experienced the worst drop in employment we have seen in 34 years. Experts are presenting the possibility of credit card debt reaching $60 billion before the end of next year, which would eclipse the existing record set back in 2002 of 7.9 percent. The credit card issuers are scrambling to regain control of the helm. In spite of the unpopularity, they are having to ‘tighten up on the lines' to get back on tack (‘credit lines', that is). Meanwhile, the government has stepped in, in two ways (that's what government is for, to govern). Assisting the credit card industry side, billions of dollars have been set aside as insurance for greater security. Assisting the consumer side, Congress and the Treasury are establishing radical new regulations to protect them from unfair practices of industry. This is all good but, will not fix things overnight.
For the time being, the retailer industry will be swept into the maelstrom of Bushenomics. For the first time in this pentade, American consumers will be forced to live within their means. This is not a small change. Almost since the inception of credit, Americans have steadily strayed further and further beyond their means. Even during the Bush area, they slept through the crime of their true means being stolen out from under them. As we finally reached the point where a single worker in our country was taking in $99 out of every $100 of American pay. The other 99 out of every hundred workers were left to divide that $1 that remained among themselves. Without credit cards, there would have been a national revolt calling for impeachment. But, because of credit cards, most Americans remained oblivious as the what was really happening until now.
Expect the retail industry to fall next, as Mr. Bush glides his comfortable parachute to new horizons. This Christmas holiday season, though it's just begun, is already projecting the near future for the retail industry and millions of it's employees. If not for credit cards, we would probably find ourselves back in 1939. Even with the hazards, though, credit cards should keep the gears from freezing up.