Student Debt, the New Home Equity Loan

By artappraiser on Tue, 03/27/2012 - 8:13pm |

By Karen Wiese, Bloomberg Businessweek, March 27, 2012

Consumer credit is on a tear. In January (the latest data available), consumers borrowed $17.8 billion, bringing outstanding consumer debt to $2.51 trillion. That’s the biggest three-month gain in more than a decade. Greater borrowing could be a good sign, showing that consumers are more confident—the magical emotion that can spur spending and help the economy rebound. But Dan Alpert, managing partner at Westwood Capital, a boutique investment bank, says not to start welcoming the “confidence fairy” yet. As he reads the numbers, something more troubling is going on [....]

URL:

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-03-27/is-student-debt-the-new-home-equity-loan