Debt

The other night my wife and I were watching some TV and there were all these ads for credit cards. I remember this email I got recently about the ads of the past and how they look so foolish to us now. (See below) so I prophesied from my couch, “some day we as a country are going to look back on these credit card ads and laugh because it is so obvious to us how ridiculous they are”. Then I read this commentary from Merrill Lynch: (emphasis added)

Attitudes about debt are shifting
Barely more than 5% of the banks now are reporting rising demand for consumer credit – at the 2003-05 debt bubble peak, this number had approached an unprecedented 40%. The Fed survey showed that 0% – not one – bank reported positive demand growth for either subprime or nontraditional mortgages, and a mere 2% reported rising demand for prime mortgages!

People’s attitude towards debt is changing – after this parabolic past 5-10 years of credit extension far in excess of underlying personal incomes, debt is now being viewed as a four-letter word at best, a ball and chain at worst. The public wants to climb out of the morass – you see it in the data; you see it in the polls. The economists don’t believe that people can change – but they will. They are, in fact. People do have the capacity to change, and we see that in many areas right now – imagine that miles driven by the average American now are down 0.5% from a year ago and that oil and gas usage in real terms has declined 1.2% as well in the face of punishingly high prices.

To read the rest of the article check out this link:

http://research1.ml.com/CFCR/GetDoc.aspx?q=13TbOfQ%2B2NHltljEpgrEYA%3D%3D

To make this an official “Christian” entry. Here is some scripture:
Proverbs 22:7 The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.

So if you are a servant to VISA, how can you fully serve God? Ouch, did I say that out loud? Well now that it is out there, I suppose I’ll roll with it.

If you are ruled by the rich, how can God rule in your life? They tell you how much they want, when they want it. So if God tells you to give a 100 to the visiting missionary, you have to say, sorry, my MASTERcard says I have to give them that 100. Ouch. I’m not perfect, I admit I have a balance on my credit card currently, but I tell you it will be gone soon. I encourage you all to enjoy the same freedom as well.

And here are some of those ads:

Peace,
Jon