Americans’ household debt surpassed a historic $17 trillion for the first time ever, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York reported (pdf) May 15. Total consumer debt in the United States hit $17.5 trillion in the first quarter of 2023, an increase of $148 billion, or 0.9 percent from the fourth quarter of 2022. That debt…

Canadians borrowed more money last year than the year before, with total consumer debt in the last quarter of 2022 rising to $2.37 trillion, a 6.2 percent increase from the same period in 2021, according to a new report by Equifax Canada. Consumers, especially those under 35 years old, increasingly used and relied on credit…

Commentary  In the United States, consumer spending is increasing not from a rise in income but from a rise in consumer debt. Last November, consumer spending financed by new debt rose at an annual rate of 7.1 percent, which exceeds the 4.8 percent annual growth in average hourly earnings for the month. With wage increases…

One of the first things a toddler learns to say is “That’s not fair!”  It turns out that the idea of fairness, a concept related to justice, is intuitive from an early age. Even 3-year-olds understand that merit is fundamental to fairness. Merit is the idea that “rewards should be distributed according to how much…

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi landed in Taiwan Tuesday. She is the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit the island in over two decades. How is Beijing reacting to it? Consumers borrowed a record amount of money in the last quarter; what’s inflation have to do with it? Oil giant BP is becoming the latest energy company to announce…

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi landed in Taiwan Tuesday. She is the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit the island in over two decades. How is Beijing reacting to it? Consumers borrowed a record amount of money in the last quarter; what’s inflation have to do with it? Oil giant BP is becoming the latest energy company to announce…

Now that the Federal Reserve is on a path of monetary tightening—a blend of raising interest rates and reducing the $9 trillion balance sheet—the nation’s fiscal situation is coming under a microscope. The U.S. government’s debt recently topped $30 trillion, increasing the country’s debt-to-GDP ratio to nearly 130 percent. U.S. government debt is now about…

The Federal Reserve raised interest rates for the first time since 2018, with six more rate hikes planned for this year. The central bank’s tightening could have a considerable impact on U.S. borrowers and consumer spending trends moving forward, experts say. U.S. consumers could be challenged by a broad array of “brisk headwinds that only…

American households took on $1.02 trillion in new debt in 2021, the most in 14 years, at levels not seen since before the 2008–09 financial crisis. U.S. consumers have ramped up borrowing to acquire homes, cars, and other goods that are becoming more expensive, according to a report released on Feb. 8 by the New…