Russian Consumers Partially Responsible For Consumer Credit Growth

On Tuesday the Federal Reserve gave us their initial Consumer Credit figure for the United States.  The February figure came in +$15.5 billion, much higher than the $12.5 billion analysts had been expecting.

Consumer Credit is growing at a +7% Y/Y rate in the U.S.; reasonable, but nothing grand by historical perspective.  In looking at the Consumer Credit data for the U.S., it looks as though the kind of growth driven by American consumerism, itself was driven by credit, may be over.  The end of imprudent, credit-driven American consumerism probably occurred in the early 2000s.

Interestingly, the housing boom, although by no means weak on consumer credit, did not exhibit incredibly strong credit growth as we saw in past decades.

With the...