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  • Hacker News
  • When China's makes the call on US debt, its going to be very bleak day.
    by sscaryterry
  • How does that play out for them? China gets a lot of money from US spending.
    by notyourwork
  • What are they going to buy instead? And how are they going to sell any significant amount of their holdings without taking a bath themselves?
    by rootusrootus
  • The Chinese (or anyone, for that matter) can't just 'call' US debt. They can either wait for it to mature or sell it to someone else.
    by weakened_malloc
  • How would china “make the call on us debt”?

    That debt is all treasury securities bought on the open market.

    They can’t demand the US pays them back early any more than you can.

    by spott
  • It would be bleak because the US won't pay, and that would crater both the US and China.

    That's why China will never do this.

    Better for both nations to extend and pretend.

    by panarky
  • What happens to the credit card debt that is owed by people who are hunted down by ICE and kicked out of the country? Is it free money for them?
    by andrewinardeer
  • ...I'm not saying this is good, but doesn't the existence of inflation mean we'll always keep breaking this record?
    by Wowfunhappy
  • yep, and depending on what meaning you want to derive population matters too. also kinda like all kinds of movies have been breaking sales "Records" but if you look at the inflation adjusted top ten, #1 is still "Gone With the Wind".
    by ticulatedspline
  • "In the final quarter of 2019, U.S. credit card debt reached a record high of $930 billion."

    Which equals $1,208.46 billion today

    So it is past inflation by $52 million?

    by basch
  • yes but you can graph trends over time: https://www.newyorkfed.org/microeconomics/hhdc

    for example, the last time we saw a nice little rise was in 2008 where nothing bad happened and everything was okay (look at the 90+ day delinquency rates). at least housing and mortgages are fine for now but if there was ever an actual recession indicator, this may be it

    by paimapi
  • Who is buying things with near-30% APR loan?
    by clickety_clack
  • Wow look at Mr. “I’ve-never-been-poor”, bragging about his privilege. What a flex!
    by mapotofu
  • People who cannot afford to survive without this credit and need it to fill the wage expense gap for basic living needs.

    This is why the unemployment rate is a poor metric. It doesn’t matter much if you have a job if its wages are insufficient for one to meet their basic needs on. Lots of employed folks, but folks barely treading water economically.

    A silver lining is that with immigration constrained for the foreseeable future, wages will be pushed up over time through structural demographics further tightening labor supply.

    https://www.marketplace.org/story/2026/08/11/credit-card-del...

    https://www.marketplace.org/episode/2026/07/16/workers-are-b...

    https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49294240 (citations)

    https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49027462 (citations)

    https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47680794 (citations)

    TLDR Wages must go up, price levels will not come down.

    by toomuchtodo
  • I use a credit card for purchases because if someone gets ahold of it and goes wild, it's insured and has a limit

    If they get ahold of my banking info they could take a lot more than my credit card limit.

    The damage they can do with my credit card is way, way less.

    by bluefirebrand
  • That's what a 0% balance transfer is for right? Just play musical cards until the issuers blacklist you.
    by kevin_thibedeau
  • The American consumer is an enigma
    by 2OEH8eoCRo0
  • Basic media numeracy will tell you that because the population is increasing and inflation exists this number is not meaningful.

    It sounds like it's describing "the problem with credit card debt is worse than ever" but this number cannot tell you that.

    Fortunately, the data does exist and has been analyzed and it's already been put together for you here: https://www.philadelphiafed.org/surveys-and-data/2026-q1-lar...

    The good news from doing the analysis properly is that this situation has been improving recently. (You will find this a lot when people panic about statistics.)

    by wilg
  • Not adjusted for inflation, so useless. At least do % of gdp which is also flawed but better than this.
    by amazingamazing
  • Since wages have not kept up with inflation, it’s already factored in as inflation drives the total debt faster. Total debt rising without a corresponding rise in wages means an increase in interest and defaults in general.
    by mathgeek
  • Does a balance that has not accrued interest count as debt for this measurement? I.e. people who always pay the statement.
    by happytoexplain
  • Technically, people who always pay the statement do have credit card debt until they pay, it's just free debt.
    by 9cb14c1ec0
  • The $1.26 trillion Federal Reserve figure includes both balances paid in full every month and balances accruing interest.

    Convenience spending by "transactors" (roughly 35% of cardholders) who pay in full every month is something like $200 billion of this.

    by panarky
  • Now do total debt: government + corporate + household

    Then add unfunded liabilities like pension benefits and healthcare promises for every federal, state and local government, school district and corporation.

    A trillion of credit card debt is something like one half of one percent of total indebtedness.

    by panarky
  • But beware the trap: total debt = total savings
    by pocksuppet
  • >A trillion of credit card debt is something like one half of one percent of total indebtedness.

    exactly. it is just $4K/person. Whereis current US national debt is $120K/person.

    by trhway