In Debt We Trust
In Debt We Trust shows how the mall replaced the factory as America's dominant economic engine and how big banks and credit card companies buy our Congress and drive us into what a former major bank economist calls modern serfdom.
Americans and our government owe trillions in consumer debt and the national debt, a large amount of it to big banks and billions to Communist China. EXPERTS AGREE: A top government official compares the US today to Rome before its fall and warns that the bubble could burst.
A former prosecutor says that many of these loans are worst than mafia loan-sharking practices. An ex-credit card executive explains how advertising campaigns are deliberately deceptive and misleading.
ROBIN HOOD OR ROBBING THE HOOD: A real estate expert reports that tens of billions of dollars, are being transferred from the pockets of the poor into the vaults of big banks which use front groups and subsidiaries to camouflage their association with rip-off loans charging exorbitant interest rates.
Duh.. Credit card companies don't any make money on the rich! Those who can afford to pay it off every month do so. As I when possible. The "problem" arises when credit is extended to those who can't pay it back monthly (or yearly) and the credit companies know it (and or depend on it). An old school anology could be.. Attach a leach to remove an immediate poison from the body.....but, never remove the leach. Credit can be helpful if used properly. Unfortunately credit is mass marketed to those who should never have it and or have it with extreme conditions and or control. Socialism in a way? (if you think about it). "Market" to all! (Knowing all along the few that can or will pay back will reimburse those who can't). And still make a buttload of money anyway.
Sorry back to the point. When credit is issued it should be done with respect to a income level that the creditor can repay(say 1 year for most small loans). Instead credit companies are happy to extend credit indefenatly as long as minimum payments are made(say "fully" repaid never).monies that could feed the economy are "wasted" on interest to bankers who need it the least.
Questions that many people overlook is: why are credit card companies able to loan all this credit out when the system shows an increase in (unsustainable) debt/credit ratios, debt/income ratios and rate of bankruptcies? Where is the easy credit originating? What is the insurance to these credit card companies and loan generators that the issued credit will be payed off?
Think rationally about who to blame and what needs to happen structurally in order to reign in the easy credit and debt obligations.
i watched this a couple days ago and its funny how people blame the bank for their debt as if the bank was the one that MADE THEM spend the money... it was their fault but hey i guess its easier to blame someone else...
There is a reason they had to change those bankruptcy laws. They know there is not enough money in circulation to repay all their loans + the compound interest due on them. The ONLY way this game resolves itself is massive grabbing of collateral. The only way all these balances on their balance sheets will be cleared is by grabbing non-cash assets that get converted into cash to repay them. The people behind these businesses and Grassley's legislation know very well what is coming here next. These Medici-esque banking systems have failed time and time again and wiped out societies.
The entire money supply only exists because it is debt in the first place. This system was perfected by the Medici in Florence and successfully perpetrated around the world starting in Italy, Holland, England, and then the United States. Nobody in the movie once mentioned that money is created from debt in a fractional-reserve debt-money system like the one enshrouded in the Federal Reserve - Treasury Department marriage. That goes for the Bank of England and the Exchequer, or the European Central Bank and all the State Treasuries in the EU. The system itself requires that there be debts fro every dollar in circulation. Since US corporations stopped net borrowing years ago, they are swimming in cash right now, that borrowing shifted to households and states.
Well said, and with the compounded debt growing exponentially as described by Chris Martenson, we will literally have hell to pay for soon. We are getting really close to the last 5 minutes in the stadium analogy.
Bank do not force people to open credit card. Don't blame all on banks.
Without credit cards people cannot participate in this economy. Try buying anything online without a credit card. Or, an airline ticket. Or, paying for a medical emergency. The entire economy is based on debt. The bankers who fund economics departments at university make sure none of us understand any of this.
And anyway, the problem is not and never has been people using credit cards. The crisis comes from mortgages and public debts. The entire money system depends on creating real estate bubbles.
And, the entire financial industry depends on the US government not having enough tax money to pay the budget. That is why they all pay Pols to cut taxes, while at the same time perpetrating war for natural resources. So, they have Treasury Bills to play with. We all have a lot to learn.
And, sorry. To be clear, the owners of banks are the ones to blame. They are the ones who control the votes in bank stocks, give the orders to the Board Directors and CEOs, and reap all the dividends from all this interest paid to them ad infinitum from every man, woman, and child. They are the real power behind the curtain.
I use a debit card and two credit cards (both are 0% interest, One for offline and another for online) and I pay off that pending amount once it shows up in the total, so I wouldn't pay any late fees (that's how the 0% interest cards gets people to pay more). These credit card companies must hate me a lot. LOL :) Though I do get offers for credit cards of $15,000. I just laugh at those and cut them up to throw into the trash. I haven't been harass by those offers in my emails. :/
I do have debt... I owe $13,000 in loans as of now and that's because I pay it off as much as possible *I use to owe $14,500*. I do have some good weeks in my job (I work when I get called in) so I over pay the loans. This way they could lower faster. I know after I pay them off I will have great credit, since I pay off all my bills on time. I even pay double so I don't have to worry about the next payment or that high interest ( I don't skip the next month over, I want to end it after all).
Too many people don't know that if they over pay *minimal payments are *beep** they could speed up the process of not owing these companies anything. Many people also don't know how to save. Even with my $20,000 substitute annual salary, I pay off what I owe and save $60 every month (this adds up by the way). I think the most important lesson one could take from this doc is... Don't live pass your means (what you make). That is common knowledge but you'd be surprised at how many people can't do that. The Jones can choke on my *beep*. I don't need that iPad garbage. I'm doing great without it.
Lucky for you you have the means to not live past. Most Americans in low wage jobs are not earning living wages. That is a growing number of people now.
This is the type of info everyone in american needs to understand
Why can't I view most of these economics videos--there is an 'x' in the space instead of the video
Probably need the plugin.. download it..
Interesting watching this in light of recent events...
well we are a consumer society due to the use of credit cards
We are a consumer society because we have no dreams that cause us to stop our spending.
Love the irony of there being a credit card ad on this page.
Guess how many credit cards I have. Zero. When my washer broke and I was between jobs I just went without until I could save again. That's what people get from cards, security in a lifestyle befitting them. Sure I wanted a washer again but the fact was I did not have the cash to buy a new one when it broke. People with credit cards don't seem to like living within their means. The problem of course is that when their income changes they may not be so keen to change their lifestyle - enter the credit card. Even when it's a positive change. My own mother came into money and did not even think of paying off cc debt, nope, she had things in mind to buy. After all, what fun is found money if you just spend it on known debt.
I liked one sentence they had in there that poor people want to pay their debts and cc latched onto that to offer them credit. I do have student loans that were unavoidable because I wanted to attend but had no savings over 3k. Got a ton of the credit card offers back then but all I did was ignore them. I know for FACT Sallie Mae sells your name and information to them because they only arrived after I registered loans with them. Glad to say I'm down to around 7k left to pay off my 30k school loans. Guess that proves I'm poor, I pay my debts lol
haha, Brace up, another recession is comming, this time, there will be no bailout, the government itself won't be able to get Credit.
The banksters sell the debt, this is why they give you a loan, they actually sell the loan to investors for much more than the loan itself, secured by your signature, if you have a home they give you a home loan and sell the home loan for times more than they loaned you, or me,if you have a car they sell the car loans too or student loans they sell those too. The banksters sell any loan and makes profit on the sale of loans plus the payments you make monthly is just extra, then as in now they tell you they lost the money and keep all the repayments and the asset underlining it and tell you the investor to buzz off.
It doesn't surprise me. I opened a bank account when I was over in the States and they offered me loans. I was only on holiday. Glad I didn't take them I may still be there.
Gives a good, entertaining view of the credit card and debt situation in the US. I was amused and interested to see many people who work in the industry predicting the subprime housing and market crash that happened not long after this movie was made.