The Credit Card Splurge Americans are on a shopping spree. And that means consumers are taking on huge credit card bills.
Credit cards are certainly popular.
The democratization of credit to the middle class in the 1970s and 1980s spread to low income households in the 1990s. Despite incendiary charges by some that credit card companies are like drug lords peddling plastic to consumer addicts, I'm convinced that the expansion of credit throughout society is largely a force for good. Still, it is far easier to spend more than you earn these days. Now, almost all of us go through a period when we run up credit card debt. Typically, it's during a time of difficult financial circumstances, such as a pink slip or a death in the family.