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View Full Version : Two Cheers for Credit Cards (Mises)




bobbyw24
02-25-2010, 07:52 PM
Mises Daily: Monday, February 22, 2010 by Robert P. Murphy

Ever since someone in grad school deviously introduced me to the concept of "irrational" debt aversion, I have been carrying credit-card balances that are far too high. Believe me, I understand the tricks these companies pull, like the clause in fine print where you unwittingly pledged away your firstborn.

I have had credit-card employees explain matter-of-factly to me that it was in my interest that they apply payments to the balances with the lowest interest rates first, and I was once driven to vulgarity on the phone by a representative who got philosophical with me when I was trying to close an account with a zero balance.[1] So believe me when I say that I get it when people complain about credit-card companies.

Yet in the present article I want to describe some of the benefits of these seductive tools of a modern financial economy. Although many critics would argue that credit cards show the flaws of capitalism, they also showcase its strengths.

Convenient Short-Term Loans

The most obvious benefit of credit cards is that they offer


http://mises.org/daily/4058

Andrew-Austin
02-25-2010, 08:12 PM
They just are not for me personally. Then again I might in the future need them for expensive purchases.

Nothing is more annoying though than people who bitch about credit cards because they went on a few too many spending sprees than they should have. If you live beyond your means then only you are at fault.

MelissaWV
02-26-2010, 11:41 AM
Two cheers? He should go ahead and splurge and get the third cheer (on credit). No one wants to hear a room just shouting "Hip hip __________!"

I don't like credit cards. I have the standard debit/credit card attached to an account I keep a little money in, just to make donating and internet purchasing a breeze. At least that draws on money I have, and have designated as "excess."

Credit cards depend entirely on money I haven't earned yet. It's just not for me.