Give more plastic, will spend more

Who should take the blame for Canadians spending more than they can actually afford? In my opinion, the blame rests fully at the feet of financial institutions that cram your mail box with invitations to take their money. Have you ever actually written or telephoned these institutions warning them that if you receive one more missive from them you will sue them because they are solicitating you into becoming a whore? I have. See how quickly the word spreads around and your telephone number is taken off the "List", the list that I suspect all these banks share between themselves. Now CIBC has the gall to make a statement saying "consumers are spending more than they can afford." Oh really Einstein? Was that very difficult to figure out?

What does it say about a culture that thinks they can spend money that they don't have/haven't earned and don't know if they will ever be able to repay when borrowed? I don't know about you, but where I come from, this is called "irresponsibility" and that happens to be one of the milder words I could find to convey the meaning.

A major Canadian bank says consumers are spending more than they can afford. The CIBC’s consumer capability index shows that while consumer confidence is rising in Canada, consumers’ ability to purchase is actually falling.

The disconnect suggests that consumer spending, which has driven the surprisingly strong rebound from recession in Canada, won’t be able to so for much longer. The bank says real disposable income is trending downward, consumer debt is rising both in relation to income and assets, as is the gap between income and real estate values.