Is everyone enjoying Bidenomics?
Rising debt means more would-be borrowers are getting turned down for loans
Half of Americans who applied for loans in the past two years were turned down, according to a new survey from the personal finance site Bankrate.com.
That finding comes at a time when banks have been tightening rules for lending money to consumers. Interest rates have spiked dramatically since 2022, as the Federal Reserve battles inflation.
According to the new Bankrate survey, the odds of getting approved for a loan today amount to a coin flip. Half of the applicants face denial, sometimes more than once. The survey, conducted by YouGov, covered 2,483 adults in January and February.
Unsuccessful borrowers most often reported getting denied a new credit card, or a credit-limit increase on an existing card. Others said they’d been turned down for personal or car loans.
Why?
Banks have been tightening credit in response to the Fed’s aggressive campaign to raise interest rates. Between March 2022 and July 2023, the Fed lifted its benchmark rate from essentially zero to over 5%, a 22-year high.
The Fed raised rates to counter inflation, which reached a 40-year high of 9.1% in June 2022.
“I think the reason why credit is tighter today is how quickly rates turned around and surged,” said Sarah Foster, a Bankrate analyst.
Meanwhile, the Biden regime continued to over-spend and borrow too much while also spending the money poorly, not directing it where it can truly help the economy recover after the Wuhan flu, for one thing.
Tighter credit has descended at a moment when many Americans are relying on borrowed funds to get by.
Roughly half of credit cardholders carry a balance from month to month, up from 39% in 2021, Bankrate reported in another recent survey. The nation’s collective credit-card balance now tops $1 trillion.
“You might feel like you need credit to be able to continue to afford day-to-day essentials,” Foster said.
And people are spending more for the basics of life, like food. Gas is higher. Energy costs are higher. And the Biden regime keeps finding ways to make all sorts of goods more expensive via regulations, and Democrat cities and states do the same. Illegal immigration is costing those same cities and states lots of taxpayer money which should go to American citizens. You elect Democrats, you get poor economic policies.
Read: Bidenomics: Around 50% Have Been Turned Down For Loans Over Debt »