By some calculations, our consumer debt right now has surpassed what it was in the 2008 financial crisis. If American consumers held $13 trillion in credit cards, car loans, mortgages and other debt in 2008, it will be shocking to learn that they may have topped $14 trillion this year. The $14 trillion calculation comes from Marquette Associates’ senior research analyst of fixed income, Ben Mohr, and it’s spreading like wildfire in the media for the drastic implications. After all, the last financial crisis hit when all those loans went bad, taking down the securities that were pegged to them.

New polling data from a Morning Consult/CNBC survey supports Mohr’s thesis, showing that Americans have indeed taken on more credit card debt than ever before, including during the 2008 financial crisis.

Discretionary spending–spending on clothes, entertainment, etc–is responsible for a large share of that….CLICK for complete article