Mish thinks so. In fact not just flatlining but declining.
Charts at the link.
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Does he think declining debt is a positive or negative?
DB2
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If consumption drops so does profits. Is that positive or negative?
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That is a negative in my book. However, consumption is different than debt. Debt/leverage is a double-edged sword; too much can be a negative. My question concerned whether or not this reduction in consumer debt was seen as a positive or negative by Mish.
DB2
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Did you read any conclusion from Mish in the link?
Mish didn’t look at an important parameter. The Household Debt Service Ratio (DSR) is the ratio of total required household debt payments to total disposable income.
https://fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/?id=TDSP,MDSP,CDSP,FODSP,
It’s stable and manageable from a historic viewpoint. If people wanted (or needed) more credit (for example, if they lost a job) they would be able to handle it (on average).
Real Personal Consumption Expenditures are trending upward as usual. This supports GDP growth since consumer spending is 70% of the economy.
Wendy
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