Did you hear that it is bad for the economy to pay off your credit card bills and save money?!

[YellowRubberDuckie]

I heard it on HLN this morning. Jennifer Westhoven was talking about it. Ah. Corporate bullshit! What happened to news and the integrity of the news channels to be completely unbiased and actually be truthful?!
But I guess it COULD be bad for jobs if the credit cards companies weren't collecting interesting and stuff. It just made me go oh hell, that sounds ridiculous. But that's just an opinion from a girl with a fever and a stomach bug.
Duckie

[TxVietVet]

1. You still watch HLN and CNN?

I couldn't take much of Robin Meade. I quit watching those channels years ago. They are not reporters. They are presenters. Presenters of the corporate line of bu$hit. They put out their pretty face so that you will enjoy the propagada. It's a waste of time. Whatever they have to say, I don't need to listen to.
Thanks for the information. Right after 9/11, gwbu$h was promoting spending your money to help the economy. Same line of bu$hit. I pay off credit cards every month.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

7. I think Robin is sweet.

And Jennifer Westhoven is usually pretty knowledgeable and informative. Clark Howard normally gives pretty good financial information. They only give the headlines and a little info on stories. Very little commentary. That is why we watch it.
Duckie

[TxVietVet]

12. I like Clark Howard. I listened to him on radio for years.

I've seen Robin Meade and some of her "activities" where she finally presents herself as a spoiled, selfish person. Westhoven sometimes gets a little snotty when she's presenting her "report". She too can be a little uppity.

I don't get off to watching the same stories over and over. 30 minutes is more than enough from those two. That's all they are good for......... presenters. They do nothing on the reporting aspect of the news.

Besides, if I'm looking for news, I'll go online and find more information than those two put out.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

13. It is good for the mornings as you're getting ready for work....

...and I have never noticed them being uppity or spoiled. I'm not sure where you are coming from on that.

[TxVietVet]

19. Years ago, when Robin Meade had the young black assistant

she got to the point where she seemed to be interfering in his personal life. There were some other little things she tried to push through on her "show". Basically, it was beginning to look like it was going to be an " all about me" show. The young black reporter went off to do bigger and better things at CNN. Meade is still stuck with her pretty face, showing off leg every now and then, presenting the current CNN propaganda. I, too, used to watch her in the mornings before I went off to work. Then, I found a nerd on CBS doing a business report. Now, he's on PBS. I never really got the hang of CNN HLN. It was the same crap over and over. B-o-r-i-n-g.

[RebelOne]

18. I watch Clark Howard on HLN.

He is the consumer guru. He has great financial advice, especially about credit. I think he is a Republican even though he never admits it, but he is a friend of Sean Hannity.

[OHdem10]

2. Theoretically this is true. Our economy is based on Consumerism

If people are not buying, businesses cannot grow,
because they are not selling things.

This is the problem. People have no money to buy.

This is the fallacy of having a service economy.
When the Powers that be changed us from Manufacturing
to Service Economy, we were doomed. America is
too large to sustained by service economy. Major
Error which has contributed to job losses in this
cou,try. Trade Policy then sent all good paying
jobs overseas.

[RKP5637]

4. Well said!!! Exactly!!! n/t

[baldguy]

3. The economy runs on credit.

Some less-than-knowledgeable people in the media & govt think that "credit" means "debt".

[demwing]

5. Credit is not debt, it is debt worthiness

How well are you capable of managing debt? That's your credit rating...

[Zax2me]

6. Well, our govt is in debt and asked to go more into debt.

Why should we be any different?

[hedgehog]

11. Because debt means one thing to us as individuals, quite another

to a large central government. Even at that, we separate bad debt ( vacations, big cars) from good debt (college loans, mortgages). Government investment generally involves borrowing money now to build roads, operate schools and colleges, fund research, etc with the expectation of paying off the debt with increased tax revenue. So, government debt can be an economic engine. Government debt acquired to fund wars of choice or other items with no return is a bad idea.

[jeff47]

22. Because our government can borrow $100 and pay back $98.

Inflation-protected bonds are currently selling with a negative interest rate.

If we ignore those, our government can borrow at 3%. Give me a Visa with a $30 trillion limit and 3% interest, and I'll have unemployment at 2% by lunch. And I'll make more than a 3% return on those purchases.

[chillspike]

8. Aww, that's too bad. It's not like I'm running up debt for anyone's sake. No thanks.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

9. Yeah buying lots of stuff on credit worked really well for the economy...until it crashed.

Anybody in the market for McMansions...cheap now they've been repossessed by the banks we bailed out.

[anarch]

10. what we need is a special tax, on those with income less than $200k/year

If they don't pay at least $200/month in interest to a large banking/credit institution, they should be taxed for the difference, and that money should then be given to their poor, neglected creditor. If they have no credit cards at all, then just tax them an extra $250 or so per month, and split the payout amongst the large banks.

[DisgustipatedinCA]

17. I like it. I like it a lot.

I would like to add one or two features, if you're taking requests. I think fees should accrue for those who are not responsive enough to financial institutions' offers of credit cards, auto loans, and the like. They have to spend a great deal of money on mailers and phone calls, and often, citizens will just ignore this mail and these calls. A few $100 add-ons to their monthly non-credit-card fine should get their attention.

[JVS]

14. It's true.

[Odin2005]

15. And that is why our whole economy is an unsustainable Consumeristic abomination.

[Curmudgeoness]

16. It might be bad for the economy, but it isn't so bad for the individual.

I protect myself before I protect the rest of the world. Sorry world.

Remember "go shopping to help the economy"? Yep, sure, like Bush was going to help me pay for all that shopping.

[patrice]

20. I have also heard that it will hurt your credit rating. Too bad! I'm on a strictly cash basis now.

And that's the way it's going to stay. Somebody else will have to save the economy.

[CoffeeCat]

21. Jean Chatzsky says the same thing...

She is always on The Today Show, telling people to keep those credit cards and don't close the accounts. Gotta
keep that credit score up, ya know!

It's not just Jean C. Whenever I hear financial advice from the MSM, they rarely tell people the truth about
the chains that are around you due to debt.

Credit-card debt, student loans, car payments, retail credit cards. Most people are owned by the BANKS, but they
don't see it that way. It's how EVERYONE does it, why shouldn't I?

This lifestyle robs you of your wealth and ensures that your paychecks go directly to the banks.

The banks, the credit-card companies, our government ("Everyone go shopping!") have ensured that we owe banks
our paychecks and will rarely retain and grow any wealth. Many do, but most don't.

That's exactly how they want it and we've been dumb enough to fall for it.

[RB TexLa]

23. I have no responsibility to do anything to help the economy. I spend as little as I can

and save as much as I can.

It's pretty simple. I deserve to keep my money.

[Shadowflash]

24. Credit card? What's that?

I paid off my last one and cut it up more than 10 years ago. Don't miss it.

[quaker bill]

25. Savings are generally de-stimulative

Savings take dollars out of circulation. This does not mean that it is not a very good idea for individuals to pay off high interest rate debt. The core of any recession is a decrease in spending, when large numbers of people choose to pay off debt at the same time, spending in the economy declines.