Wed, Nov 25 2009
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Total credit-card debt for Missouri alone last year was about $14.3 billion — an average of $2,432 per person, according to CardTrak.Com and the U.S. Census Bureau. Richard Rawlins, a finance professor at Missouri Southern State University, said the national credit crisis has been exacerbated by the amount of debt families carry. That debt, he said, is the product of spending decisions over the years. “It isn’t the bank’s fault completely,” he said. “There is plenty of blame to go around.” Daniel said he “absolutely” believes personal financial management practices are a result of outside forces as well as individual decisions. People are encouraged, he said, by others and to an extent by the government, to spend money. He cited the stimulus checks issued earlier this year as an example. The government issued those checks, he said, in hopes that people would spend the money. Rawlins said the economic downtown could spur people to learn more about the economy in general, and he said it “ought to generate more discussion,” but warned that the average person on the street will likely be more preoccupied with immediate problems. In the short-term, he said, it might encourage changes in personal habits. As far as enduring change, he said a lot of that depends on a person’s experience. Those who suffer an immediate, personal impact are more likely to undertake that process, he said. Those who haven’t are less likely. “Somebody who has gone through a wreck probably has a lot more respect for seat belts,” he said. If a person who eats out once a week (estimating $6 per meal) brings a meal from home (estimated cost $2), the savings over 10 years comes to more than $2,080. Invested at 5 percent interest, the total savings come to $2,691, according to the American Consumer Credit Counseling Service. Jennifer Cornell, executive director for the Powell Center for Economic Literacy, a Richmond, Va.-based organization that promotes economic literacy for young people and provides resources to that end for schools, said the current economic climate affords an opportunity for people to learn about economics and finance. “There is no better time to be teaching economics and supporting economic education right now,” she said. 
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