> The Economist wrote:
>
> >Optimists claim there is nothing to worry about, because the
> >increase in debt has been more than matched by an increase in
> >financial assets. On the surface, balance sheets do indeed look
> >healthy. Households' net wealth (assets minus debt) has increased
> >from just under five times personal disposable income in 1990, to a
> >historic high of more than six times.
>
> People, including the skeptics at The Economist, always forget the
> fact that different sets of households have the assets from those
> that owe the debts: the rich lend to those poorer than they are.
>
Just as importantly, don't those financial assets include stocks? If the stock values fall, the debts do not...
Seth