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Entry: Fads, Tradition, and Real Knowledge Link: http://www.takimag.com/blogs/article/fads_tradition_and_real_knowledge#24356 Post contents: While it is true that Americans' appetite for risk and debt has increased, much of that appetite was already there, it just wasn't fed as well - meaning much of the increased debt level has resulted simply because it became easier for some Americans to borrow more. This is partly a result of money from places like China flooding into the country. It is also the result of what you discussed in your post, i.e. the discarding of old prejudices that kept many people from being granted credit in the first place (witness the explosion of "sub-prime" borrowers"). Unless the government decides to bail everyone out, lenders will re-learn at least this aspect of tradition. Sent at: 2008 07 24