American debt nightmare ends easy credit era - Associated Press
 

Experts say crisis could spark shift away from maxing out credit cards.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27149408/

An inflatable gorilla beckoned from the roof of Don Brown Chevrolet in St. Louis, servers doled out free bowls of pasta and a salesman urged potential customers to "come on up under the canopy and put your hands on" a new set of wheels.

But sitting across from a salesman in a quiet back room, Adrian Clark could see it would not be nearly that easy. This was the ninth or tenth dealership for Clark, a steamfitter looking for a car to commute to a new job. Every one offered a variation on the discouragement he was getting here: Without $1,000 for a downpayment, no loan.

"It's just rough times right now," Clark said. "Rough times."

For Clark, and for a nation of consumers heavily dependent on credit, there are growing signs that those rough times could prove to be more than just a temporary problem, that they could be the beginning of a stark, new reality.

Is America's long era of easy credit over?

http://msnbcmedia1.msn.com/i/msnbc/C...CANS-DEBT2.gif


i am in the no debt category.

want to hear something crazy?

i have excellent credit, a 740, never late on anything, nothing on my credit history, and i got declined for a visa about a month and half ago. and i have two paid off vehicles on my history as well as several revolving credit accounts like macys that have been paid off, and never late.

3 years in my residence and solid job history.

go figure.

^ Doesn't sound like you have a 740 fico

Japanese exports to the US dropped by 21.8% from a year ago and the country reported its first trade deficit in 26 years.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...l?hpid=topnews

Interesting. :)

http://www.reuters.com/article/ousiv...4913E220081002

The U.S. trade deficit in goods other than oil cost American workers 5.6 million jobs last year, with Michigan and South Carolina leading the list of hardest-hit states, a report issued on Thursday said.

"Elimination of the non-oil trade deficit could support millions of new jobs in export industries and contribute to the revitalization of U.S. manufacturing," Robert Scott, director of international programs for the partially labor-funded Economic Policy Institute, said in the report.

"Despite strong export growth over the past few years, that (non-oil) deficit still totaled $473 billion in 2007, only $48 billion less than its record peak in 2006," Scott said.

The report estimated Michigan lost 319,200 jobs in 2007 due to the non-oil trade gap, or 7.5 percent of its total employment. South Carolina was second with 121,000 job losses, or 6.2 percent of its work force, Scott said.

California, Texas and New York had bigger job losses, but with less impact on their total employment because of their larger populations, Scott said.

All 50 states and the District of Colombia had some jobs "lost or displaced" because of the trade deficit, he said.

The most important causes of the non-oil trade deficit are "currency manipulation and other unfair trade practices" by China and other countries, Scott said.

In an interview, Scott said the United States should impose a tariff on Chinese goods to level the playing field.

well, take my word for it cuz im certainly not posting a credit report for the morons on gfy.

:2 cents:

Haven't applied for a credit card recently.. Did not realize this 'credit crisis' is that bad that someone with a 740 fico can't get a credit card. Wild.

<<<<<<< Zero debt.

If I can't pay cash for it, I don't deserve to have it. That included cars and homes.

I don't believe in credit anymore. Been there, got in a HUGE hole and it took years to get out of it. NEVER AGAIN!!!!

Don't feel special. I owe alot and have a credit score of 777, just got rejected for one card, and two days later got accepted by Citi.

You have to owe the banks money! If not they won't lend it to you.

Hey Bitch! ... I resemble that remark!

i'm not sure if it was the bank anticipating what was about to happen, as it was pretty close to when shit hit the fan. maybe the bank i had applied through had already frozen new accounts.

you never know i guess.

:)

LIAR!

Isn't running a bar tab technically a form of credit?

:1orglaugh

.

:1orglaugh:1orglaugh:1orglaugh

there are a select few i'm talkin about. you aren't one of them.
LOL

Same thing happened to me bawla.

I just went to my credit union, and had them flip me a credit card. Easy peasy. Should have went their 1st.

I closed all but two of my others. Kept them for the 'points' I get when I travel. Airfare, hotel, from the BROventions.

I would venture to guess that that figure doesn't include mortgages. I think that is just credit card and load debt alone.