Commentary
What is inflation doing to the culture? For a clue, have a look at trends in household economics.
Start with credit card debt, which is now rising 14 percent per year in the United States, after having fallen dramatically during 2020 lockdowns. People wisely used stimulus payments to pay off some debt. That is completely over now. Credit card debt is now reaching a record. And the savings rate is trending the same: down to 3.1 percent. In the 1960s, before the age of inflation really kicked in, 12–15 percent was more common.
Less saving, more credit card debt, and declining real income all amount to burning a candle at both ends. And within this context, we have credit card interest rising very fast, and reaching 17 percent. This applies to the whole balance on the cards of course, so those people who racked up the debt during good times are now being pillaged, all their discretionary income going to service debt on things already consumed long ago….