June 3, 2009 - 9:04am
On May 19 the Senate passed a new bill, designed to tighten rules on credit card interest rates and to keep Americans from spending money like water. However, in March 2009, consumer debt decreased by $11.1 billion to $2.55trillion. As regards to debt in particular it dropped for the sixth month by $5.4 billion to$94.9 billion.
In spite of the bill, some Americans don`t seem to realize the situation and keep on overspending. Only Miamians owe more to credit card companies than anyone in the U.S., as the residents of this city had to feel the effects of the real estate crash, including a 12% diminution in hotel occupancy for the first quarter of 2009, a growth in unemployment to 8.5% in March 2009 and a 9% year-over-year growth in foreclosures for April 2009.
The median household income is a moderate $43,333 in comparison with the national average credit card debt in each home accounting $9,797.38. That means to pay off outstanding credit card bills, debtors would have to forgo 22.61% of their incomes.
In other areas such as Tampa, Fla., where the average household owes 17.1% of its total income; Los Angeles, where it's 16.81%; Jacksonville, Fla., which owes 16.38% on average; and Orlando, Fla., indebted by 16.37%, Americans are still overspending.
In addition to Las Vegas' housing crash and dismal tourism numbers, fell by 8% in the second quarter of 2008, show that residents are still tightening their belts temporarily, and Riverside, Calif.'s unemployment and foreclosure rates keep the debt-to-income ratio high--there are some more presumably stable places that can be added to the list. For example, Austin, Texas, in spite of a low cost of living, cost of housing and unemployment rate, on average households owe 14.12% of their overall income to credit card companies.
The same situation can be seen in spots like Indianapolis, Charlotte, N.C., and Cleveland, Ohio, where the percentage of indebted household income is 13.63%, 14.33% and 14.45%, and the unemployment rate is 8.7%, which is 0.3% below the national average, but still 4.7% higher than what's considered economically healthy by economists. In spite of the fact that Austin is fortunate in that its unemployment rate is still fairly low (5.5%), the other places have high unemployment rates.
Martin Lindstrom, a retail marketing expert and author of Buyology: Truth and Lies about What We Buy, affirms that Americans will never again consume like they have in the past.
Resource: Forbes
In spite of the bill, some Americans don`t seem to realize the situation and keep on overspending. Only Miamians owe more to credit card companies than anyone in the U.S., as the residents of this city had to feel the effects of the real estate crash, including a 12% diminution in hotel occupancy for the first quarter of 2009, a growth in unemployment to 8.5% in March 2009 and a 9% year-over-year growth in foreclosures for April 2009.
The median household income is a moderate $43,333 in comparison with the national average credit card debt in each home accounting $9,797.38. That means to pay off outstanding credit card bills, debtors would have to forgo 22.61% of their incomes.
In other areas such as Tampa, Fla., where the average household owes 17.1% of its total income; Los Angeles, where it's 16.81%; Jacksonville, Fla., which owes 16.38% on average; and Orlando, Fla., indebted by 16.37%, Americans are still overspending.
In addition to Las Vegas' housing crash and dismal tourism numbers, fell by 8% in the second quarter of 2008, show that residents are still tightening their belts temporarily, and Riverside, Calif.'s unemployment and foreclosure rates keep the debt-to-income ratio high--there are some more presumably stable places that can be added to the list. For example, Austin, Texas, in spite of a low cost of living, cost of housing and unemployment rate, on average households owe 14.12% of their overall income to credit card companies.
The same situation can be seen in spots like Indianapolis, Charlotte, N.C., and Cleveland, Ohio, where the percentage of indebted household income is 13.63%, 14.33% and 14.45%, and the unemployment rate is 8.7%, which is 0.3% below the national average, but still 4.7% higher than what's considered economically healthy by economists. In spite of the fact that Austin is fortunate in that its unemployment rate is still fairly low (5.5%), the other places have high unemployment rates.
Martin Lindstrom, a retail marketing expert and author of Buyology: Truth and Lies about What We Buy, affirms that Americans will never again consume like they have in the past.
Resource: Forbes