The thing I don't like about credit card companies is that they seem to debase the value of money. They push it on people like its popcorn. Please, take this money, no interest until next year and use it for "whatever". It just does not feel right. Money should be scarce and valuable. I think this is ruining the fabric of our economy and contributing to household insolvency. Its like using casino chips instead of real money. People lose sight of value. It would not bother me if credit cards went back to the way they used to be. No money back rebates or teaser rates. Just a card used for transactions that paid its own way.
OP, you are an ignoramus. Did the credit card mark the invention of debt? When was the credit default swap invented? When was the notion that only an increasing money supply is a healthy one popularized? When was progress toward market efficiency haulted by greed and a belief that deflation was the devil?
To blame the current state of affairs on credit card usage is not only naive but outright deceptive. Personal credit has been around since ancient times -- the Greeks and Romans used them. We are in despair times because of globalization. Developing nations like China and India are having a deflationary effect on the global economy. These guys are flooding the market with cheap labor, products and services, which in turn puts negative pressures on the rest of industrialized nations. When Alan Greenspan was lowering interest rates to stimulate the US economy, he was in avertedly doing the reveres by helping China's economy, because Americans were losing their jobs to China, and were using credit cards to compensate the loss of purchasing power. When people were shopping at Walmart, they were actually helping and strengthening China's economy, which in turn made the problem even worst, because as China further expanded production, it took even more jobs from Americans. The massive trade deficit with China is a testament to this vicious cycle that has been in effect for more than a decade. Globalization is the single driving force behind every negative thing that is happening right now. And the reason you don't hear about this on CNN and the rest of main stream media is because the elite segment of our society is deeply committed to the globalization philosophy while the rest of us go broke!
You are the product of CNN and the rest of kosher mainstream media sources. There is no point in debating with you. Go watch your Oprah.