Part of macroeconomics is the spending behavior of individuals and what factors influence this behavior. One factor that significantly influences individual spending is consumer credit. Following the subprime market debacle, financial institutions have increased their requirements for credit: referred to as tightening credit. Based on what has happened with consumer credit in the past few years:

1.) How has the tightening of consumer credit affected individual spending and in turn the U.S. economy?

2.) Has this strategy by the financial institutions helped our economic recovery?

3.) [Best to frame your response within the context of the GDP expenditure components, and how you would expect that these changes will in turn affect GDP overall]