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    Back to To the Point

    To the Point

    Consumer Complicity in the Credit Crisis

    The finger of blame for the worst economic mess since the Great Depression has been pointed mainly at Wall Street. But what about Main Street, where ordinary Americans have been living on credit cards and sub-prime mortgages, borrowed money they'll never pay back? Now that the roof's falling in, can consumers afford to continue spending?

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    By Warren Olney • May 12, 2014 • 1 min read

    The finger of blame for the worst economic mess since the Great Depression has been pointed mainly at Wall Street. But what about Main Street, where ordinary Americans have been living on credit cards and sub-prime mortgages, borrowed money they'll never pay back? Now that the roof's falling in, can consumers afford to continue spending? If they don't, what happens to economic recovery? China's consumer economy is booming, with a high savings rate and very few credit cards. Is that a better model? Will the crisis change America's values? We'll raise these and other questions today.

    The full episode

    2 of 3
    Wall Street, Main Street and Economic Crisis
    1. 1:36World Markets Swing Widely as Finance Ministers Meet
    2. 7:47Consumer Complicity in the Credit CrisisYou’re reading this
    3. 43:06Nobel Peace Prize Awarded to Finnish Diplomat
    • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

      Warren Olney

      former KCRW broadcaster

    • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

      Frances Anderton

      architecture critic and author

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      Katie Cooper

      Producer, 'One year Later'

    • Sonya Geis with wavy brown hair wearing a black dress with red accents and decorative earrings against a white background.

      Sonya Geis

      Senior Managing Editor

    • KCRW placeholder

      Linda Chavez

      Center for Equal Opportunity

    • KCRW placeholder

      Dean Calbreath

      Business reporter and Columnist, San Diego Union-Tribune

    • KCRW placeholder

      Brian Wesbury

      Chief Economist, First Trust Advisors

      NewsNationalPolitics

    The full episode

    2 of 3
    Wall Street, Main Street and Economic Crisis
    1. 1:36World Markets Swing Widely as Finance Ministers Meet
    2. 7:47Consumer Complicity in the Credit CrisisYou’re reading this
    3. 43:06Nobel Peace Prize Awarded to Finnish Diplomat
    Back to To the Point