Journal Article

Americans cut their debt


Abstract: The Great Recession brought an end to a 20-year expansion of consumer debt. In its wake is a lively debate about what caused the turnaround. Was it motivated by a decreased appetite for debt by consumers or an unwillingness to lend by banks? Our analysis of Equifax and Mail Monitor data shows that the major cause was most likely consumers.

Keywords: Households - Economic aspects; Debt; Consumer credit; Recessions;

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File(s): File format is text/html https://doi.org/10.26509/frbc-ec-201211
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Bibliographic Information

Provider: Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland

Part of Series: Economic Commentary

Publication Date: 2012

Issue: Aug

Order Number: 11