Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Pastimes : Clown-Free Zone... sorry, no clowns allowed -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: IceShark who wrote (20888)	9/22/2000 1:11:10 PM
From: LLCF	Respond to of 436258

What business does a newspaper in Mississippi have printing this: Money management more critical now Consumer debt is soaring to staggering levels in America. The latest figure is $8.199 trillion — more than $80,000 for every household. That includes mortgage debt, revolving debt, auto loans and student loans, among other categories. It doesn’t include medical, utility and grocery bills. This dangerous trend is accelerating, ironically, in a booming national economy. Consumers are spending money faster than they are earning it by borrowing. Americans are keeping up with the Joneses, but they’re doing it on plastic, and the consequences are grave. Some 1.28 million consumers sought bankruptcy protection from creditors last year — more than twice as many as a decade ago. While bankruptcies have doubled, total credit card debt has more than tripled, from about $172 billion in 1989 to about $585 billion in 1999. Look for the bankruptcy rate to keep rising. When the national economy eventually slows, the effect will be even more profound, analysts say. The American economy has become so dependent on credit that the weight of too much debt could make any recession deeper and longer for everyone. Credit Mississippi for trying to do something about it. Thanks to action by the state Legislature in 1999, Mississippi is one of the first states in the nation to require personal-finance instruction in its public school curriculum. This practical instruction aims to spare young people from a lifetime of financial misery. The advice is timely, because decisions people make as young adults often determine their long-range financial plight. “In our credit card culture, which encourages us to buy everything we want on the installment plan, this effort is needed now more than ever,” said Secretary of State Eric Clark, a booster of the program. Free materials to assist schools in developing their instruction have been provided by the National Endowment for Financial Education, the Mississippi State University Extension Service and several private companies. We commend the Legislature for its foresight. Many debt-laden Mississippians wish such advice had been available to them as teen-agers. DAK