Handley (2012) writes that a 2011 study found Americans are charging more, a lot more, on their credit cards once again.

Americans racked up nearly $48 billion in new credit card debt in 2011, 424 percent more than what they charged in 2010, and 577 percent more than in 2009. Although total outstanding credit raised only about $4 billion, that number was largely offset by the magnitude of consumer defaults--$44.2 billion worth. "Looking back two years, with the exception of a single quarter, U.S. consumer debt management has consistently worsened," the report said, noting that the recent trend of consumers paying down debt doesn't match up with the hard data. "First-quarter pay-downs have become less significant and the amount of new debt added in each subsequent quarter has grown compared to its respective counterparts in the previous two years.

Handley, M. (2012, March 16). Assessing the debt explosion. U.S. News Digital Weekly, 4(11), 8.

The fact that consumer credit card debt is continuing to worsen and default rates are reaching staggering amounts raises a number of troubling questions.

To address such important matters, responsible citizens, policy makers, and leaders utilize research to draw conclusions and make important decisions wisely. We will use this threaded discussion to learn more about credit card use and then make decisions based on our research.