Australians now have one of the highest credit card debts on the planet.Total debt for every person is $56,000 compared to the USA of $44,000.For the first time our total debt is greater than our GDP of $1.2 trillion.see http://australia.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/australia-credit-card-debit-card-statistics-international.php

While our credit card debt is much lower than in the USA,our housing debt is much higher reflecting our over valued real estate.

In the last 5 yrs our debt has increased by 71%.Outstanding credit card debt is over $45 billion.

The solution to reducing some of our national debt is to get rid of our credit cards and here is the reason why;Our Govt used to create a lot of cash in the form of notes and coins.This was money generated by our Govt which reduced our taxes and what we owed to foreign banks etc.Now this money is generated by Visa and Master Card etc,which then goes off shore increasing our national debt.

So when our Govt tells you how well we escaped the GFC,don't believe them,since we have just delayed our day of reckoning.

I think you will find Arjay, that Visa and MasterCard work a bit
like franchises. So the money lent on your credit card does not
come from Visa etc, but from your local bank, most of whom actually
own shares in Visa and others.

The average credit card debt is around 3100$, so the 56'000$
debt includes mortgages, car loans and all the rest.

Why on earth should we get rid of credit cards? People can do so
by paying them off, for banks make very good money from credit
cards, with higher interest charged, due to the higher risks involved.

The great news is that as our banks are largely owned by Super
Funds, which are owned by all Australian workers who have a super
account. What they rip off you in fees, they put away for
your retirement one day. That's not so bad, for as Australians
gamble away something like 20 billion a year, if the banks did
not put it away for your old age, you might just blow it at the
pokies!

So if you really want to ban something, ban the pokies

Ban fools too yabby.
As the bread winner for a big family I went into credit card debt, big time.
Not for me for kids not mine and my mum.
In time I found myself alone and lived very frugally.
Paid every cent and buy only with cash and only if a balance remains.
Newly weds wanting it all now even pay housing loans on the card.
Anyone can live within a budget and after the pain after the bills are paid credit cards should never be used again.

That's just more bunkum, Arjay.

>>Our Govt used to create a lot of cash in the form of notes and coins.This was money generated by our Govt which reduced our taxes and what we owed to foreign banks etc<<

There is no correlation between printing banknotes and our level of taxation.

Nor does it have a direct impact on what we owe to foreign banks.

Your statement makes no sense.

At any level.

Yabby,I said nothing about banning cards.I believe in freedom of choice.Even if the banks are providing most of the finance for credit cards,their creation of credit via the fractional reserve system puts us in debt,since when they reach their limits,they borrow from the global reserve banks.

Our balance of trade is positive,we export more than we import.It is our balance of money supply that is the problem.The RBA is not doing it's job ,ie creating the extra money to equal increases in productivity and inflationary money.This is the major reason why we now have a national private debt greater than our GDP of $1.2 trillion.

Belly,it's good to see we agree on something,if only for a brief interlude.

*Our balance of trade is positive,we export more than we import.It is our balance of money supply that is the problem.*

Yes Arjay, our current account is in major deficit, for good
reasons. We borrowed money and used foreign investors money
to build those mines, factories, ports etc. Now we owe them
interest and dividends on their investements. If Australians
saved more, we would owe them less. If Australians bought
BHP shares, rather then blow it at the pokies, we would be
better off. Its all pretty straight forward.

Your notion of the Reserve Bank simply printing notes to solve
our current account deficit makes no sense. For in that
case the market would simply devalue the Australian $ by the
appropriate amount. Inflation would set in. Zimbabwe tried
it, it did not work. We have a free floating market based
exchange rate remember.

In your first post you said that the solution was to get rid
of credit cards. Well people can do that voluntarily now. I
find mine pretty handy, for buying stuff online etc. I just pay
the bank by the due date, no interest charge at all.