The IMF has warned for more than a year of rising debt levels in low income countries. Now, bailout talks with Pakistan and requests for help from Angola, Zambia and others are forcing the fund to confront a pressing question: how far is debt distress in the developing world due to lending by China? The…
Nearly 40 percent of U.S. adults carry credit card debt from month-to-month, according to the 2017 Financial Literacy Survey conducted on behalf of the National Foundation for Credit Counseling. (Cropped Photo: www.cafecredit.com / CC BY 2.0 / MGN Online) Nearly 40 percent of U.S. adults carry credit card debt from month-to-month, according to the 2017…
The children said they were fleeing in search of work to pay for their fathers debt.   |  Photo Credit: Thinkstock Mumbai: In a tragedy that was averted in the nick of time, four minor children were rescued just before they could take a train out of town. The children were siblings aged between eight…
I met a young entrepreneur who runs a debt-solutions business that helps people who cannot get out of their financial mess. Like others in its industry, this business provides budgeting advice, assists clients with payment arrangement with creditors and lends money. Sadly, business is booming. I say sadly because nobody likes to see people wreck…
Loading What is particularly egregious is that energy companies are making such demands on their customers who are in financial difficulty, even though new rules will outlaw some of this conduct in six weeks time in Victoria. Come January 1, under reforms introduced by the Essential Services Commission, an energy retailer will be required to…
A few months ago Reserve Bank Governor Phillip Lowe provided four common sense points we should all keep in mind regarding borrowing to finance a home. (The Governors speech can be found here). I thought they made sense and so summarised them in a tweet to which someone replied that every checkout operator knows…
Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos was hit with another lawsuit Tuesday claiming she failed to cancel student debt owed by people whose for-profit colleges have been shut down. The new lawsuit comes a month after a federal judge ruled that the regulation should immediately go into effect, after more than a year of what he…
A decision to cease federal funding to two key groups operating Australias national debt helpline could have put the entire service in jeopardy, consumer advocates say. But questions to the social services minister, Paul Fletcher, appear to have prompted an intervention his second such intervention in recent days that has given advocates confidence the looming…
While high household debt remains a risk to economic stability, consumer spending is also a source of stability, according to a major bank economist. The Commonwealth Bank of Australias chief economist, Michael Blythe, has said that while high levels of household debt, especially at a time of subdued income growth, is a risk to economic…
Executive Summary A small percentage of U.S. companies including PwC, Fidelity, and Aetna have stepped up to help their employees cope with the education loans weighing them down by offering them cash to help them reduce their debts. One downside of their approach is simply giving their workers cash raises their income taxes, diminishing the…