Two weeks ago we noted how the savings rate in the US had plunged to 3.1% in September 2017, its lowest rate since December 2007 which, coincidentally, was when the last recession started. Probably nothing. The September 2017 figure was less than half the most recent peak of 6.3% in October 2015. As we noted at the time, spending surged 1.0% month-on-month while personal incomes grew at a modest 0.4% and savings took the strain.
Now they tell us…
Last month, S&P warned that UK lenders could incur £30 billion of losses on their consumer lending portfolios consisting of credit cards, personal and auto loans if interest rates and unemployment rose sharply. Much like in the U.S., S&P warned that "loose monetary policy, cheap central bank term funding schemes and benign economic conditions" had fueled an "unsustainable" yet massive expansion of consumer credit that will inevitably end badly. Per The Guardian:
ICO Investors are about to experience something that’s almost never happened in the brief history of the $3 billion market: An offering by a company with an actual product.