No one can afford to stop the new consumer credit crisis
by Phillip Inman from on (#283CV)
The Bank of England is too complacent about rising debt in households with stagnant incomes. But government dare not risk any slowdown in spending
Consumer debt has raised its ugly head again. According to the latest figures, the total has soared back to a level last seen just before the 2008 financial crash. To the untrained eye, the dramatic increase in spending using credit cards and loans might appear to prefigure a disaster of epic proportions.
Excessive consumer debt played a big part in the collapse of Northern Rock, and looking back, this landmark banking disaster appears to have been the harbinger of an even bigger catastrophe when, a year later, Lehman Brothers fell over.
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