Commentary
Canadian debt is very much on my mind. Well duh, with next week’s federal budget depending on bond traders being so fuddled by splitting total borrowing into Borrowing A (Good) and Borrowing B (Bad), that they can’t add A and B and get Borrowing C (Scary). But actually, my concern is private borrowing because, if the budget doesn’t work out well, are we ready to weather the storm? Heck no. And we don’t care.
Blacklock’s Reporter just noted a Financial Consumer Agency report that almost a third of us are carrying credit card debt at interest rates of 19 percent or worse. And an important reason why is, “About half, 49 percent, have had to use credit cards, overdraft or borrow from savings for daily expenses.” In fact, we lead the G7 in household debt as a share of GDP and have for years because… we’re living beyond our means, and loving it….