American households are over-indebted at a time when new growth is looming interest rates which, according to a related Financial Times report, will make it harder to pay off their debts. According to her research Federal Reserve New York, US household debt hit $16 trillion in the second quarter. dollars, registering an increase of 2 trillion. dollars compared to pre-pandemic levels. So far, late payment rates remain historically low at around 2.7%.

However, the New York Fed notes that there has been an upward trend lately. delay in payments in terms of credit cards and auto loans, especially in low-income regions and among subprime borrowers. Therefore, the Fed interprets these data as signs of an imminent deterioration in the situation with payment delays.

At the same time, American tycoons are getting richer and Europeans are taking vacations despite inflation.

In the same time very rich The Americas spend their vast wealth flaunting it or engaging in endless business conflicts. By May, the wealth of American billionaires had increased by more than $1.7 trillion. dollars compared to pre-pandemic levels, up nearly 60%, according to the Institute for Policy Studies and Americans for Fiscal Justice. As the related CNN commentary highlights, they could set aside some of their increased wealth to make life easier for their fellow countrymen, or at least alleviate the suffering caused by the pandemic. Instead, Jeff Bezos bought a yacht so big he couldn’t get it out of port, and Elon Musk was embroiled in a series of Twitter controversies over a $44 billion takeover bid he’s trying to refuse. And the inequality gap continues to widen in the US. A recent survey of 300 large US companies by the Institute for Policy Research found that over the past year, the gap between CEO pay and that of the average employee at the same company widened to 670 to 1 from an already staggering 604 to 1 in 2020. .

Europeans, however, despite inflation and a looming recession threatening the eurozone, remain undaunted and on vacation. Travel giant TUI says bookings for this summer are already at 90% of pre-pandemic levels, although package holiday prices and overall costs are up about 20% from pre-pandemic levels. TUI, in particular, has seen a decline in profitability as the chaos faced by Europe’s largest airports has so far cost the company €75m in staff cuts needed to handle the surge in European travelers.