> I think it's probably both, but I haven't seen a breakdown lately. I
> think debts are higher at all income levels - though the subprimes
> are not big enough to drive the averages up much.
What are the month-to-month or quarterly stats for a) numbers of U.S. personal bankruptcy filings and b) $ levels of same, versus last year or two years ago or...?
Re. mortgages and home ownership increases, regardless of increasing availability of funds to first-time buyers of homes, isn't it also the case that a larger and larger overall percentage of funds in the "pool" is being channelled into daily consumption via second mortgages/refinancings?
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/ dave /