I heard an interesting discussion on the radio the other day, part of which concerned the proposed bailouts/takeovers of a number of banks. One economist said the problems, in his opinion, are far more deep-reaching and systemic than greedy bankers and Wall Street financiers. He has been keeping a chart of consumer debt -- all consumer debt -- that goes back decades.

There are two major peaks in the chart, which shows consumer debt compared to Gross Domestic Product (GDP). He said for a long time consumer debt bobbled along at around 50 percent of GDP, but from 2000-2008 it shot up like a mountain peak to 100 percent of GDP, which is a *lot* of debt. He said the banks are having the same types of problems that people are: too much sustainable debt, meaning it's everywhere. According to him, we have been financing our lifestyles on credit, and not well-thought-out credit at that. The last time, by the way, credit was that high was 1929.....

So I'm wondering if there are plenty of people who keep their debt down whether there are an equal or greater number of folks who have really been out on a limb.