Delightful Debt
02/19/2014 | | Consumer debt, econ70, Economic forecasting, economist on radio, economist on TV, eisenberg and economics, Eisenberg and housing economics, Eisenberg and public speaking, Elliot eisenberg, funniest economist, funny housing economist, Graphsandlaughs, graphsandlaughs and eisenberg, household debt levels, housing sales, level of household debt, MLS, mortgage banking, Multiple listing service, politics and economics, Public speaking economist
After steadily declining for 19 straight quarters, total consumer debt increased in the past two quarters for the first time since 2008! Household debt grew by $130 billion in Q3 and by $241 billion in Q4. However, overall consumer debt remains 9.1% below its all-time high of $12.68 trillion in Q3 2008. Household deleveraging is a major reason why the recovery has been so lackluster; it appears to be over.