Debt Nation - NPR On Point Program Topic

Debt Nation
Aired: Thursday, June 19, 2008 11-12PM ET


Credit card signs on a New York store's door. (AP File)
Once upon a time, America was famous for its thrift -- for local banks and credit unions and savers' clubs that encouraged everyone - even the little guy and gal - to save their pennies and get ahead.

Today, America is famous - maybe infamous - as the debtor nation: the country that rains credit cards down on the public, builds "little guy" dreams on lotteries and scratch tickets, and struggles with a subprime lending mess.

What happened, and how do we fix it?
This hour, On Point: Crunch time for the debtor nation, and could we, can we, turn it around?


· Barbara Dafoe Whitehead, co-director of the National Marriage Project at Rutgers University, is author of the essay ?A Nation in Debt: How We Killed Thrift, Enthroned Loan Sharks and Undermined American Prosperity? in the July/August issue of The American Interest.
· Rita Haynes, CEO of Faith Community United Credit Union, where she has worked and volunteered since 1958.
· Yves Smith, head of a New-York based management consulting firm that specializes in financial services, and blogger at Naked Capitalism.


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