Is debt the new religion of the UK?

The average Briton is now £33,000 in debt! This is according to Nick Allen of the Telegraph http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/11/26/ndebt126.xml

Families are stretched to the limit of their borrowing capacity, with personal debt having almost doubled since the turn of the century, an independent report warns today.

The average adult now owes £33,000 through mortgages, credit cards and personal loans compared with £17,000 in 2000, the international accountancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers claims.

Many households are likely to have to use their credit cards to meet rising mortages

As borrowers default on their debts in growing numbers and banks and building societies try to recoup their losses, annual fees on credit cards will become standard, the report says. These would equate to up to £30 a year.

Despite the prospect of annual charges and higher interest rates on monthly bills, many people are likely to have to use their credit cards more often to meet the rising cost of mortgage repayments.

The report came as families prepared for Christmas, when the average adult takes on more debt than at any other time of the year.

Further pressure will be applied next year when more than a million people see their discounted fixed-rate mortgage deals end, the report predicts. They face an average rise of £140 on their monthly repayments.

The report delivers a bleak warning about the level of consumer borrowing in Britain, which now stands at more than £1.3 trillion.

Sadly we live in Bankrupt UK?

A Happy New Year!

With more than 130 dead in the aftermath of the Kenyan elections and Pakistan going through a maelstrom post-Benazir Bhutto and the sentiment surrounding the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, I cannot help but wonder at how relevant it is to South Africa with fractures appearing in the ANC and the divide between Zuma and Mbeki, particularly with the impending trial of Zuma in August.

The former Pakistani prime minister was also under a cloud of corruption and yet in death all segments of the population openly condemned the act that removed her from the political arena — gone were the allegations of corruption and ridiculing the policies that defined her; in their place a deep regret at her passing and the hatred it has unleashed.

South Africa is a melting pot where, in the main, people seek that which unites them.

Yet here is the ruling party, at war with itself and threatening to destroy everything that has been achieved by the Rainbow nation post-apartheid.

As Mike Trapido comments in the Mail & Guardian "We are not talking about some petty internal squabble but a hatred that is so divisive that it has people threatening the president that if he doesn’t account to Luthuli House he’s in danger of being shunted aside."

And there is a wall of anger from the Zuma camp, who openly accuse the president of being behind the decision to charge the ANC president. Whether or not there is merit in the claims, the perception, which is everything, is that he was.

Where does that leave the country?

May you all enjoy peace, prosperity and good health in a wonderful New Year.