Barry Ritholtz, Columnist

The Imaginary Debt Crisis Is Here to Stay

Household borrowing has reached new records. Big deal. Personal income has grown much more.

August 16, 2017 at 4:07 PM UTC

Barry Ritholtz is a former Bloomberg Opinion columnist. He is chairman and chief investment officer of Ritholtz Wealth Management, and was previously chief market strategist at Maxim Group. He is the author of “Bailout Nation.”

At this rate, it will be up to his eyes in no time.
Source: Bettmann/Getty Images

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Now that we have surpassed 2008 highs in household debt, I guess we are due for a panic attack.

Four times a year, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Center for Microeconomic Data releases its “Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit.” Soon after, we get the freak out over the record amount of debt. Sometimes it’s merely sensationalistic headlines; other times it strays into flawed analysis. It often unnerves investors and policy makers, who then do silly things against their own interests.