Sometimes, something important, or tragic can force one to sit back and think deeply and analyse the cause. Recently a young friend of mine, with two university degrees, and being chartered as well, has lost his job, something that would never have happened a few years ago. Away back in time, most jobs were a job for life, and in most cases, it was the individual who chose to move, not the employer who forced him. It would appear that the way the shops are closing, where the bigger shops are almost empty for the first half of the week, shows an incredible change in our financial situation. In the past that I mention, people had small savings which was essential, and they were paid often on a weekly basis, and paid their bills on a weekly basis. Debt was frowned upon. If you analyse this, you will realise that now people are able to run up colossal debts with the use of the credit card, or cards, and the problem is that the banks are constantly persuading you to take out another card, While the banks have a lot of responsibilitie for the credit crunch, a high proportion of people have also contributed to it. The credit card is a convenience, not a necessity, nothing more, and if it can be so dangerous, as it would seem, one might wonder if it is in the interest of the country not to put a sensible limit on the amount of debt that one was allowed to achieve. The current allowances are in thousands of pounds, but the average shopper doesn’t think in those terms
I don’t suggest that this will be the solution to the credit problem, merely a break on things getting worse, and perhaps a chance to increase the rates of recovery.