The American Debt Virus Spreads to Australia

The United States isn't the only country feeling the strain of heavy credit card debt load. Australia has joined the fun. During May their current credit card indebtedness rose some 10.8% to a new record of $40.24 billion, with each Aussie now averaging around $3,000 in unsecured credit card debt.

It seems all the bad habits Americans have embraced as a way of life, such as financing everyday expenses, as well as extravagant, unnecessary expenditures have brought this to the attention of the government, eliciting comment from labor Secretary Wayne Swan to Prime Minister John Howard, who while they each tell differing views about the severity of the credit card debt phenomenon, felt compelled to weigh in on the subject.

What is clear is that it is not in total crisis state yet. The Australian credit card debt is simply not going in the right direction. The opposition party will have you believe this is a symptom of a greater illness in the Australian economy, as people are struggling to make ends meet on a day-to-day basis, and are turning to unsecured credit lines to finance their lives. The Prime Minister and his cronies will contend that a wealth of assets are backing up this spending, and it's a largely paper problem.

I guess it's just a matter of who you ask, and how many credit cards they're paying minimum payments on this month!