Credit Card Nation: The Consequences of America's Addiction to Credit

Rating:
Summary: Victims of credit cards or just irresponsible?
Review: Well, the chicken and egg question: Are we victims of credit cards infiltrating every aspect of our lives, or merely not taking responsibility? I'll admit, having been in debt until recently, I felt both at times. Of course people make their own choices. I feel you can not totally blame credit card companies for everything. However, this is a fascinating book on credit and how it has multiplied into every fabric of what we call the American Dream. Growing by leaps and bounds from the late 19th century until the present day. I saw Dr. Manning on C-SPAN 2 book world and seeing him speak made me want to buy this book. While we can't always blame others for our mistakes, isn't it time we took a look at credit card comapnies marketing techniques on college campuses? This was where I fell into my own trap. Mr.Manning explores this phenomena, which is vastly unexplored in many books, very well. He does give some dry statistics, but overall presents the history of the credit card. Let's face it, the companies would rather we be in debt. They also give so little of their funds toward charity, when doing events for charity. It is even possible very little of their money now is going towards relief efforts stemming from recent tragedy. There are those who look down at books like this (one reviwer I saw in particular), but the numbers don't lie. Credit debt keeps growing. It seems, unfortunately, that many people will still need this book. They may need it and others like it. As far as I can see, Mr. Manning has done justice towards how and why credit card comapnies market the way they do. Let the stories resonate with you. Take away something from them. They could be you, or someone you love. For having that intention, we need more writers like Mr. Manning.