Commentary In the Middle Ages, the Catholic Church, reflecting Plato and Aristotle, considered money lending charging interest to be a grave evil, for reasons ranging from the metaphysical to practical concerns regarding exploitation of the poor and personal responsibility. While there was never an absolute prohibition of providing credit stated in either the Old or…
Delinquency Rates Inching Higher as Inflation, Interest Rates Hit Consumers
New data show that delinquency rates are rising across the U.S. marketplace as consumers contend with high inflation, real negative wage growth, and rising interest rates. According to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s (FRBNY) Household Debt and Credit Report, the overall flow into serious delinquency rate (90 days or more delinquent) rose to…
Interest Rates Tap Out Consumers as Credit Growth Slows in January: Fed Report
Consumer credit extended its expansion streak to kick off the year as revolving and non-revolving debt grew, new Federal Reserve data confirm. U.S. consumer credit increased by $14.8 billion in January, up from $11.56 billion in December. This fell short of the market estimate of $20 billion and represented the second-lowest print since the central…
Quarter of Americans Would Use Credit Cards for $1,000 Emergency: Poll
A quarter of U.S. citizens would resort to using credit cards when faced with a $1,000 emergency expense, even as credit card interest rates are elevated amid decades-high inflation. When asked how they would pay for a $1,000 emergency, 25 percent of respondents to a Feb. 23 survey by Bankrate replied they would finance the…
In Your Debt: How Couples Can Team up on Debt Repayment
Between financially helping his parents and losing income as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, Jeremy Mazza landed into serious credit card debt. Relief came from a source he wasn’t expecting: his partner, Ginna Lambert, who had come into a small inheritance. She suggested “investing” part of her bounty in their shared future by lending…
Family Finances: Paying Down Your Credit Card Debt Is a Good New Year’s Resolution
By Sandra Block From Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Carrying a balance has always been costly, but it’s particularly expensive now. The average credit card interest rate in mid-December was 19.42 percent, the highest rate since 1992. As the Federal Reserve Board continues to raise short-term interest rates to throttle inflation, average rates could rise even higher,…
Most Canadians Would Stop Using Credit Cards at Businesses That Charge Additional Fees: Survey
Amid rising prices on everything from home heating and gas to food and other necessities, a new survey suggests most Canadians would stop using credit cards at businesses that charge an additional processing fee. The non-profit Angus Reid Institute asked 2,774 credit card holders if a new credit card surcharge of 1.5 percent would change…
The Fine Print: Deal With It!
Just recently, U.S. consumer debt (that’s everything except mortgages) hit $16 trillion. Of course, that fact is often buried in the fine print, where most of us don’t pay attention. Or, if we do, we have no idea what that means. So what is a trillion? It’s a million million, a thousand billion or 1,000,000,000,000….
Credit Card Rates Hit Record High as Borrowing Costs Soar Amid Fed Hikes
Interest rates on credit cards have hit a record high as the Federal Reserve shows no signs of pivoting away from its monetary tightening policy. The average credit card annual percentage rate (APR) has hit 19.04 percent, Ted Rossman, a senior industry analyst at Bankrate, said to The Epoch Times. This is a new record…
NTD Business (Nov. 4): Can Musk Save Twitter? Card Holders to Pay $5B More in Interest w/ Rate Hikes
Elon Musk is on a mission to save Twitter. The unprofitable company has lost money in 10 of the past 12 years. What stands in his way? It seems like the U.S. labor market is not getting the memo from the Federal Reserve. The new jobs report still shows a robust jobs market. The Fed’s latest…
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