The Continued Delusion

While some parts of the article come from a fairly extreme viewpoint, assuming this data is correct, there is something to be learned from the section in bold below.  The talking points from the past few years are that consumers are tightening their belts and paying off debt.  But, if credit card debt has only decreased due to financial institutions writing off a portion of that as 'bad debt', then the reality is somewhat different (although the authors of the piece below do not indicate how much debt would normally be written off in a give quarter).

"The MSM declares that the reduction in overall consumer debt from its peak of $2.56 trillion in 2008 to $2.41 trillion today proves that consumers have been cutting back and paying off debt. This is another media lie. Non-revolving debt, which includes car loans, education loans, mobile home loans and boat loans sits at $1.6 trillion, an all-time high matched in 2008. Credit card debt has “plunged” from $957 billion to $814 billion, not because consumers paid down their balances. The mega Wall Street banks have written off $20 billion per quarter since early 2009, accounting for ALL of the reduction in credit card debt. Clueless consumers continue to charge at the same rate as the peak in 2008."


http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2010/11/jim-quinn-lies-across-america.html