I work at a bank. I do loans and stuff. One of the determining factors on whether or not a loan will be approved is something called the "debt-to-income ratio." That is, the amount of money you owe on other loans/mortgage/rent/whatever vs. what you make. The highest acceptable number for this ratio is 45%. We, as a bank, will not let you over-exert yourself. I can only speak for my particular financial institution, and there are certainly less scrupulous lenders (that's one way to put it). But at my bank, if we see that 50% of your income is being paid toward your debt, we see you as in the weeds; just getting by; not able to handle even another $25 a month for another credit card.

Having said that, let's look at a chart, shall we?





This is a graph of the ratio over the last century of collective household debt vs. the US Gross Domestic Product. This is the debt-to-income ratio on a national, collective scale. I don't know if you can read the little numbers on the left side of the chart, but that ratio is currently at 100%. We are so far in debt, every cent we earn is matched by a cent we owe. That, to put it mildly, is scary. What is even scarier, as shown by the chart, is that the last time our national debt-to-income was so high was 19-fucking-29. In case you missed that day of American History in high school, 1929 was the start of the Great Depression.

Since 9/11, we've been told to spend money. We've been told that it was the American Way of Life to spend, that, hell, it was practically our patriotic duty to spend. The only problem is that we don't make enough to spend like the government wanted us too. Luckily there was a bank offering a credit card or a home equity loan.

Not to get all socialist or anything, but this what Free Market Capitalism brings. It can be a catalyst for unprecedented entrepreneurship and advancement, but it can also wreak unknowable financial havoc.

A financial system based on greed and self interest for all parties let us down. Weird, I couldn't have seen that coming...