This is one case where the consumer has no one to blame but himself, the credit card companies are offering credit, not gifts, and I don't see why they should be held responsible if consumers misuse their product. Of course, I suppose you could conceive of a situation where the consumer legitimately has to go into outrageous debt at scandalous interest, but for the most part, it's greed or laziness, not to mention plain irresponsibility that gets the credit card customer into trouble. Credit cards should be for the emergency of an unanticipated expense, or for the convenience of not having to carry large amounts of cash on the road, or to provide a record for business purposes. They are not a substitute for money, they ARE money.

The real victims of the credit card companies are the merchants who are forced to participate in this credit frenzy by the pressure of competition, and who must pay to administer it, and absorb some of the losses due to fraud. I imagine they get less for the products they sell on the card, too, I suspect the card company charges the merchant a tariff for the privilege of attracting consumers with the convenience of plastic. And of course, the credit card companies should share financial responsibility for creating a system so vulnerable to fraud that the entire nation is forced to fear or suffer identity theft.

As for the amount of credit card debt in America today, I do not know. My own anecdotal experience with friends and aquaintances, although admittedly unscientific and very limited,
is not inconsistent with $8000 debt. My brother, who works in real estate and is authorized to snoop in other people's credit records, also tells me this is not an unreasonable figure. I suspect the lady in the article doth protest too much; I wouldn't be surprised if she didn't have a personal stake or conflict of interest in this debate. Beware of business majors who are really passionate about something. There's usually money involved.

I do know a cottage industry has arisen of frequently changing credit cards to take advantage of temporarily low initial interest rates for marketing purposes. My bro has tens of thousands of dollars in interest-free credit through his CCs right now. All perfectly legal and everyone gets paid when it's their turn.