Credit Card Nation
By Robert Manning 
Basic Books, 2001 - 416 pages

This book is pretty predictable as you can imagine and is not a self-help book for those seeking to get out of credit card debt. Manning is a sociology professor, whose specialty is the effect of credit card debt on college students. In this book Manning expands his focus to encompass social attitudes toward all types of debt and suggests that debt lead not only to financial ruin but also to moral and social degradation.

This book is pretty dense but definitely worth reading. Credit Card Nation combines debt of every kind--consumer, corporate, and governmental--and creates a vast landscape of profit-spewing lenders and struggling debtors present at every level of economics. Appalling statistics set readers off on a depressing journey: the years between 1980 and 1994 saw annual consumer charges skyrocket from $170 billion to $581 billion, with the average household carrying over $4,000 in revolving debt. Based on statistics I read, at the end of 1999 that number had risen to $8500 per household, a staggering increase.

While most media would have us believe that students who rack up charge accounts are totally irresponsible the author is convinced that the banking industry is to blame for debtors who lack the discipline and intelligence to manage their financial responsibilities. At the end of the day the extension of credit is simply the extension of choice.

The U.S. government and consumer here continue to send a larger and larger chunk of their money towards banks simply trying to pay off the interest on their credit cards. Although there is a short attack on Reagan deficit spending during the eighties, this book mainly focuses on America's increasing dependence on short term debt (i.e. credit cards). Since Mr. Manning is a sociologist he tries to pay particular attention to how societal attitudes have changed. How the puritan ideal of frugality and thrift has been pushed aside for a new philosophy that emphasizes materialism and luxury.

I purchased the book but have yet to read it but plan on doing so for some article I want to write on the looming debt crisis I believe the U.S. might get into within 2-3 years if they aren't careful. (1) We have to pay down the national debt because (2) Medicare and Social security costs will surge with the baby boomers and (3) The U.S. will have fewer workers to pay for these benefits as our birthrate is 1.5 children per family (ie. We don't reproduce enough to replace our current society!).

 

About the Author: Robert D. Manning is the Caroline Werner Gannett Professor of the Humanities at Rochester Institute of Technology. An economic sociologist who specializes in race relations and labor market issues, he is the recent recipient of the Sociological Practice Association's Robert Ezra Park award in recognition of his contribution to social policy. He lives in Rochester, New York.