this post was submitted on 05 Feb 2024
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While the U.S. economy is broadly healthy, pockets of Americans have run through their savings and run up their credit card balances after battling inflation for more than two years.

Experts worry that members of these groups -- mostly lower- and middle-income Americans, who tend to be renters -- are falling behind on their debts and could face further deterioration of their financial health in the year ahead, particularly those who have recently resumed paying off student loans.

“The U.S. economy is currently performing better than most forecasters expected a year ago, thanks in large part to a resilient consumer,” wrote Shernette McLoud, an economist with TD Economics, in a report issued Wednesday. “However, more recently that spending is increasingly being financed by credit cards.”

Americans held more than $1.05 trillion on their credit cards in the third quarter of 2023, a record, and a figure certain to grow once the fourth-quarter data is released by Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. next month. A recent report from the credit rating company Moody’s showed that credit card delinquency rates and charge-off rates, or the percent of loans that a bank believes will never be repaid, are now well above their 2019 levels and are expected to keep climbing.

...

Most analyses of Americans’ financial health tend to tell a tale of two consumers. On one side are the roughly two-thirds of Americans who own their homes and those who’ve invested in the stock market and done substantially well. They generally had the savings cushion necessary to weather high inflation. Delinquency rates on single-family homes remain at near historic lows and home prices have continued to climb.

But for the rest of America, things are looking rough.

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[–] Hildegarde@lemmy.world 61 points 9 months ago (3 children)

If this economy is healthy you're using bad metrics.

[–] ReallyKinda@kbin.social 18 points 9 months ago

I had a philosophy prof in college who had a pet peeve about movie buffs who use box office numbers as a metric of success. It makes sense for the people profiting to look at it like that, but it killed him cinephiles would adopt that perspective to quantify success over other more artistic markers of a well-made film.

[–] AbouBenAdhem@lemmy.world 12 points 9 months ago

Or a narrow definition of “broad”.

[–] AlwaysNowNeverNotMe@kbin.social 6 points 9 months ago

The moment something becomes a metric it ceases to be a useful metric.

[–] Reverendender@sh.itjust.works 31 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

"VantageScore’s Tavares worries that the recent reintroduction of student loan payments could more acutely impact these customers in their ability to repay their debts.

“Folks are scrambling to pay these obligations that they haven’t had to pay in three years, and it’s hitting exactly the demographic we are talking about here: the younger folk, less affluent folk,” Tavares said."

The loans thing she doesn't help, but it's the rampant and blatant price gouging for consumer goods that is a huge culprit. But no one seems willing to talk about or address that.

[–] CaptainSpaceman@lemmy.world 15 points 9 months ago (2 children)

The loans thing she doesn't help, but it's the rampant and blatant price gouging for consumer goods that is a huge culprit. But no one seems willing to talk about or address that.

Thats because they assure us inflation is under control. Though, its easy to say that when CPI numbers are continually massaged.

[–] Reverendender@sh.itjust.works 10 points 9 months ago

Jerome Powell should be tarred and feathered.

[–] tygerprints@kbin.social -4 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Actually ("ECKKTUALLY?") inflation has come down in a big way in most areas. Food is still high, but gas and other commodities have seen huge drops. The job market is strong and the stock market is more robust than it ever has been. But people tend to overlook those things when they aren't getting more money into their wallets....naturally.

[–] protist@mander.xyz 4 points 9 months ago (1 children)

You're getting downvoted but are also totally correct. Prices for all sorts of stuff have come way down, eg cars, gas, lumber, electronics, but people don't tend to buy these things as often as groceries, which are still elevated, so it still feels pervasive. Add this on to crippling socioeconomic inequality and there's certainly a recipe for dissatisfaction here though

[–] tygerprints@kbin.social 2 points 9 months ago

That doesn't bother me, I know when I've being downvoted it's because I've said something truthful that people dont want to hear. If all I wanted was being upvoted, that would pretty much defeat the whole purpose of being on social media. I certainly don't come here for the "approval" stamp.

There is still crippling socioeconomic inequality, but there has been ever since I've been alive and I'm almost 65 now. And there's always been dissatisfaction over it, and large contingents of people unwilling to accept any positive news of the economy because they have gripes about some parts of it.

[–] ReallyKinda@kbin.social 17 points 9 months ago (1 children)

If 2/3 of people can afford to pay the higher prices for basic necessities and 1/3 cannot it’s not difficult to see the direction things will move.

In capitalism agency=price discrimination and when some people are willing to pay 300% for potatoes and milk the people who cannot are SOL, and increasingly so as things progress. Obviously the manufacturers will set the price to wherever they’re profiting the most. This is also why inequality throws a wrench in the myth of well functioning capitalism.

Either governments need to step in or people who can afford to pay 300% need to refrain on principle (the latter seems pretty unlikely on a mass scale).

[–] Wrench@lemmy.world 17 points 9 months ago

or people who can afford to pay 300% need to refrain on principle

We couldn't even get people to wear masks during a pandemic. You think we can get people to stop buying shit they can afford at extortion rates? GPU market already shows how that worked.

[–] SuiXi3D@kbin.social 8 points 9 months ago

Ding ding ding! Nailed it!

Well, my situation anyway. And now I’m looking at skipping multiple payments because my new (to me) car has multiple problems that can’t be babied along anymore.

[–] DogPeePoo@lemm.ee -2 points 9 months ago (2 children)

Powell and Yellen have fucked America

[–] FenrirIII@lemmy.world 26 points 9 months ago (2 children)

Greedy corporations and billionaires have fucked us

[–] Sightline@lemmy.ml 5 points 9 months ago
[–] DogPeePoo@lemm.ee 4 points 9 months ago

I’m old enough to remember both Powell and Yellen gaslighting the American public on inflation for years

[–] ExcursionInversion@lemmy.world -1 points 9 months ago

This is just false