Credit Cards, Consumer Credit, and Bankruptcy

Optimizing Consumer Credit Markets and Bankruptcy Policy

This Article explores the relationship between consumer credit markets and bankruptcy policy. In general, I argue that the causative relationships running between borrowing and bankruptcy compel a new strategy for policing the conduct of lenders and borrowers in modern consumer credit markets. The strategy must be sensitive to the role of the credit card in lending markets and must recognize th...

Consumer Credit Delinquency and Bankruptcy Forecasting Using Advanced Econometrc Modeling

This research paper empirically shows that unemployment is significant in determining both consumer bankruptcy filings and delinquency even after controlling for household demographics. Furthermore, I show that unemployment and the debt/wealth ratio also affect the choice of whether to file for bankruptcy under chapter 7 or chapter 13, after controlling for demographics. The paper then points o...

Credit cards and inflation

The introduction (and widespread use) of credit cards increases trading efficiency but, by also increasing the velocity of money, it causes massive inflation, in the absence of monetary intervention. If the monetary authority attempts to restore pre-credit card price levels by reducing the money supply, it will have to sacrifice all the efficiency gains. When there is default on credit cards, t...

Consumer Lines of Credit: the Choice between Credit Cards and Helocs

Credit , Bankruptcy , and Aggregate Fluctuations ∗

We ask two questions related to how access to credit affects the nature of business cycles. First, does the standard theory of unsecured credit account for the high volatility and procyclicality of credit and the high volatility and countercyclicality of bankruptcy filings found in U.S. data? Yes, it does, but only if we explicitly model recessions as displaying countercyclical earnings risk (i...