Borrows to the hilt on 12 credit cards. Now runs a company worth millions. You read about him every day. Also about his neighbor. Liberal sages blame credit-card debt and soaring bankruptcy filings on corporate downsizing and the capitalist excesses of greedy lenders.
Conservatives blame the general decline of financial rectitude.
Consumer credit used to be what small merchants extended to a few trusted customers. Merchants didn't extend much, because it cost a lot to manage debt intelligently. In our generation, the card swipe and the computer network behind it have allowed national providers to take over the credit market. They waste no time on clumsy personal relationships. Credit is manufactured out of the statistics of huge financial databases.