Question

[HONDO74]

Here's a question to ponder - is the next financial crisis going to be the debt crisis?

Average household was just under $16k in credit card debt last year; close to $17k this year.
Average student loan was just under $49k last year; I thought the student loan game was crazy. but.........
Average mortgage debt was just under $172k
Total household debt in the 1st quarter of 2016 was over $12 trillion.

Don't people pay their bills anymore or is the entire country going to just declare bankruptcy.....

There is a good possibility that people are headed for another catastrophe like the housing bubble that broke back in 2007.

Apparently they don't teach mathematics in school anymore. To many people in this world that don't comprehend it.

[Roy]

Here's a question to ponder - is the next financial crisis going to be the debt crisis?

Average household was just under $16k in credit card debt last year; close to $17k this year.
Average student loan was just under $49k last year; I thought the student loan game was crazy. but.........
Average mortgage debt was just under $172k
Total household debt in the 1st quarter of 2016 was over $12 trillion.

Don't people pay their bills anymore or is the entire country going to just declare bankruptcy.....

Are you really worried about this, Rufus? Just because individuals and organizations are carrying debt, doesn't mean they're not paying their bills. The federal government needs to raise taxes on the wealthy and on big business, in order to reduce the national debt.

[Seaboard Air Line Fan]

Here's a question to ponder - is the next financial crisis going to be the debt crisis?

Average household was just under $16k in credit card debt last year; close to $17k this year.
Average student loan was just under $49k last year; I thought the student loan game was crazy. but.........
Average mortgage debt was just under $172k
Total household debt in the 1st quarter of 2016 was over $12 trillion.

Don't people pay their bills anymore or is the entire country going to just declare bankruptcy.....

My daughter knows someone no longer paid her mortgage and simply walked away from her house just walked out, unbelievable.

My daughter has been home a month now and have yet to find a house they want at the price they can afford, I'm doing everything I can to persuade them not to get in over their heads with a mortgage they can't afford.

[Mitch]

Apparently they don't teach mathematics in school anymore. To many people in this world that don't comprehend it.

And it runs rampant in Washington, D.C., and every state capital in the union. They all just continue to blow money that doesn't exist, piling up massive debts that can never be repaid. We haven't had a balanced budget nationally for 8 years or more; running the government on "continuing resolutions" because they (congress) won't be beholden to the constitution. They're only beholden to the special interests. And the continuing resolution allows them to spend billions more that they don't have and can't ever get. This latest one; the Dems got nearly 60 billion in new spending. The Republicans got no cuts whatsoever, but did get rolled quite well.

There is one big difference though. Companies and individuals will be held liable for their debts; the Fed will just print more worthless paper to cover theirs, or worse yet, confiscate IRAs, 401Ks, and all individual wealth by forcing the American public to "buy" the national debt.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Here's a question to ponder - is the next financial crisis going to be the debt crisis?

Average household was just under $16k in credit card debt last year; close to $17k this year.
Average student loan was just under $49k last year; I thought the student loan game was crazy. but.........
Average mortgage debt was just under $172k
Total household debt in the 1st quarter of 2016 was over $12 trillion.

Don't people pay their bills anymore or is the entire country going to just declare bankruptcy.....

Are you really worried about this, Rufus? Just because individuals and organizations are carrying debt, doesn't mean they're not paying their bills. The federal government needs to raise taxes on the wealthy and on big business, in order to reduce the national debt.

Yes. Individuals are accruing debt and are not paying it down. They are not even worried about it. This isn't about the Gov't; it's about where way too many people are going. In debt up to their ears, no savings, and then they think they will retire.....broke.

BTW, they are starting to go after the unpaid student loans going salaries, bank accounts, liens, etc.

Banks don't care about the debt as long as they keep getting checks from you forever...

So, how much are you carrying on your cards?

[Roy]

Are you really worried about this, Rufus? Just because individuals and organizations are carrying debt, doesn't mean they're not paying their bills.

Yes. Individuals are accruing debt and are not paying it down. They are not even worried about it. This isn't about the Gov't; it's about where way too many people are going. In debt up to their ears, no savings, and then they think they will retire.....broke.

BTW, they are starting to go after the unpaid student loans going salaries, bank accounts, liens, etc.

Banks don't care about the debt as long as they keep getting checks from you forever...

So, how much are you carrying on your cards?

In our time, we didn't have to deal with predatory, for-profit student loans. Thank the God-damned Republicans for getting rid of laws against usury. The sub-prime crisis was another Republican scam. These God-damned rich psychopaths won't be happy until they've turned the United States into a third-world banana republic.

[Roy]

My daughter knows someone no longer paid her mortgage and simply walked away from her house just walked out, unbelievable.

My daughter has been home a month now and have yet to find a house they want at the price they can afford, I'm doing everything I can to persuade them not to get in over their heads with a mortgage they can't afford.

Your daughter's friend was likely under water, like many who were sucked into predatory mortgages. Bob, you keep your kids away from a bad mortgage - even if you have to lock them in their room!

[Seaboard Air Line Fan]

So, how much are you carrying on your cards?

I bought a window AC unit for the train room last week. Decided to put it on the CC just to get the points. I got a portable unit by LG, that's all I have on my card and will pay that off this week.

Roy, they're basing what house they can afford on her government salary as the son-in-law hasn't found a job yet since coming back home from Sicily. Hopefully he'll be employed soon which should give them some wiggle room.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

........ like many who were sucked into predatory mortgages.

There were predatory mortgages and then there were people that had they paused for 5 seconds would have realized they were doing something amazingly stupid, getting loans for houses and stuff that they never realistically should have been able to do - blinded by greed and lust for materials things and having no self-restraint and not accepting any responsibility for their poor decision making. I've read way too many sob stories from people that just jumped into the shark feeding frenzy pool and then cried they pushed me. Way too many ignored reality and ran open armed into total fantasy, and then refused to accept that they were complicit in that decision. In many ways that's the real problem - today's society refused to accept responsibility for its actions and always wants to blame someone else for its problem.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

In our time, we didn't have to deal with predatory, for-profit student loans.

Actually, we did, but I(we) never would have qualified for one - back then you actually had to qualify for a student loan - today, it's just sign here and pay for the rest of your life. My son has one - very low rate and if you send in the monthly check, it take decades to pay it off. As soon as we saw the structure of the loan, he started paying it off a 5-fold rate.

Thank the God-damned Republicans for getting rid of laws against usury. The sub-prime crisis was another Republican scam. These God-damned rich psychopaths won't be happy until they've turned the United States into a third-world banana republic.

They were totally complicit with the banking crisis, knew what was going on, knew what would happen, and did nothing except to stand up and salute when their bribes, err... donation checks arrived. They've been busy removing the limits that were installed to prevent it from happening again. Debt and student loans disaster will be arriving sooner, and now we have a group that uses and accepts bankruptcy as an acceptable tool of finance. Used to embrace financial and be fiducially responsibility, but that all disappeared 15 years ago..

[HONDO74]

predatory mortgages

Another BS way of saying I am to GD stupid to figure out that I can't afford to make the payments.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

predatory mortgages

Another BS way of saying I am to GD stupid to figure out that I can't afford to make the payments.

Not always. Some of these folks just followed their greed and disbelief that somebody else won't bail you out from your poor decision making....and their is some stupidity involved there, but damned few consequences and in some cases rewards - the poor, poor victims......

Maybe it's time to bring back debtor's prisons and work farms....except far too many don't even know what end of the idiot stick has the shovel on it.

[HONDO74]

[quote=

Not always. Some of these folks just followed their greed

Kind of like those that got in the game called "lets flip this house"

When the housing bubble broke and people started defaulting on the mortgages. 35% of those first ones were not owned by the primary resident.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

[quote=

Not always. Some of these folks just followed their greed

Kind of like those that got in the game called "lets flip this house"

More like those that were climbing the housing ladder buying a newer and bigger house every 5 years.....and never having much of any equity in much of anything.....and then no substance underlying their finances - 1 small push and it all collapsed and then it was all somebody else's fault.......

[MurphOnMillerAve]

Without question ....a most amazing layout. I had been aware of its existence but had no idea it had reached such a point of sophistication and jaw-dropping wonder. Thanks to a voice on OGR, Larry Sr. who posted this link, I am newly re-amazed:

I encourage you, even if you have seen it previously, to go to and see the video @:
www.miniatur-wunderland.com

For example, there is a mini-marvel vignette wherein a man cuts down a tree which inadvertently falls on a house, collapsing the roof into the house - lights flashing and interior visible!!!!!!!!!!!! Wonderous! And that's just one tiny tiny detail of wonder.