America’s Wallet Weeps: $1.28 Trillion in Credit Card Tears

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Ah, the sweet serenade of debt, a melody that grows ever louder in the land of the free and the home of the brave. The latest symphony from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York reveals that American credit card debt has swelled by $44 billion in the final quarter of 2025, reaching the staggering sum of $1.28 trillion. A number so grand, it could make even the most stoic of souls blush with embarrassment.

And let us not forget the humble mortgage, that steadfast companion of the American dream, which has ballooned by $98 billion to a whopping $13.2 trillion. Truly, the pillars of financial security are trembling under the weight of such prosperity.

In a recent soliloquy, Goldman Sachs’ chief US economist, David Mericle, waxes poetic on the plight of the common man. “It is clear,” he intones, with a gravity befitting the occasion, “that we have an affordability problem in housing, especially for those who dare to dream of owning their own abode. The cost of financing a single-family home has risen to heights unseen in the annals of history. Down payments and mortgage costs now consume a lion’s share of income, leaving little for the frivolities of life, such as food and warmth.”

“It is clear that we have an affordability problem in housing, especially owner-occupied housing. In the rental market, it’s true that the share of income for a typical family that rents is somewhat higher than it has been on average historically…

But it’s really the cost of financing your own single family owner-occupied housing that stands out by historical standards. Prices have risen a lot. Now mortgages have risen as well and both the down payment as a share of income and the mortgage financing cost as a share of income are now both quite high by historical standards.”

Mericle, ever the astute observer, notes that the rising cost of housing is a double-edged sword, slicing through the very fabric of American life. “Owner-occupied housing,” he muses, “is not merely a roof over one’s head but a beacon of hope, a means to build wealth, especially for the less fortunate. Yet, it is also a gateway to social mobility, to better schools and job opportunities. To be denied access to such a home is to be denied a place at the table of progress.”

“Owner-occupied housing is special in two senses. One, especially for lower-income households, housing is the primary – and sometimes the only – way they build wealth.

[The] second reason is that housing is not just any other consumer good in that housing is often a gateway to social mobility and many areas with better schools and job opportunities. The great bulk of the housing stock is single family owner-occupied housing, especially if you have a larger family, it’s just not realistic oftentimes to rent in those areas.

And so lack of access to single-family housing could also mean lack of access to good schools, jobs and social mobility.”

As the sun sets on another day of financial woe, one cannot help but wonder: is this the price of progress, or merely the cost of keeping up appearances? Perhaps, in the grand tapestry of life, debt is but a thread, albeit a rather thick and unyielding one. And so, dear reader, we leave you with this thought: in a world where the cost of living is ever rising, is it not better to laugh than to weep? After all, laughter, like debt, is free.

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2026-02-14 13:23