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U.S. Household Debt: A Frightening Picture

It seems to me that the comparison should be with the value of assets in the hands of consumers - not tied to sales. I have a large amount of "consumer debt" on a couple of credit cards, but solely because they offered long term rate committments at 1.99% which allowed me to trade down from an average of 8% which allowed me to invest for 13 percent. But of course, not everyone knows how to use other people's money to make money. Many are mortgaging their equity to buy depreciating assets or finance expenses. Pitiful situation to be sure.