New film takes swipe at debt problem
'In Debt We Trust' takes hard look at debt casualties who declare bankruptcy and the marketing practices of credit cards issuers.
By David Ellis, CNNMoney.com staff writer

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- With Americans seemingly overwhelmed by mortgages, credit cards and automobile loans, it seems like everyone has something to say about the state of consumer debt in America nowadays.

A new documentary, "In Debt We Trust: America Before the Bubble Bursts," offers its own take on debt in America looking not only at some of its casualties, but also the financial institutions that one expert says have created a "21st century serfdom."

Danny Schechter, who developed, wrote and directed the project, realized during the production of the film just how big of a problem the issue of debt is. "It was getting increasingly clear it was an issue affecting people across the spectrum," says Schechter.

And numbers appear to back up his case. Right now, American consumers have racked up $2.17 trillion in debt on their mortgages, auto loans and credit cards, according to recent data from the Federal Reserve.

Consumer advocacy groups, such as the U.S. Public Interest Research Group, estimate that the median U.S. household that does not pay its credit card bills in full every month carries a balance of $4,000 to $5,000.

While the film delves into the marketing and lobbying practices of the large credit card companies, such as MasterCard's "priceless campaign," it suggests that those efforts have led to such debt casualties as the young woman featured in the film who was forced to declare bankruptcy at the age of 21 because of her credit card abuse.

"Most people don't recognize this as a social problem, they recognize it as a personal problem," says Schechter.

While one expert in the film went so far as to liken the debt of Americans to a "21st century serfdom," the film suggests that consumer spending, which makes up two-thirds of the U.S. economy, is ultimately what is driving Americans further into debt.

As far as solutions go, some experts in the film stress the need for regulation at the state and possibly the federal level, but also seem to suggest that a big push must be made by those affected by debt themselves - the consumers.

Schechter's film, which made its debut in June at a film festival in Nantucket, is the second film in the past 12 months to tackle this issue. Last December, the documentary "Maxed Out" took on the issues of both individual and government debt in the United States.

While it might be difficult for the general public to view his documentary at their local theater until Schechter locates a distributor, he is confident his film will continue to remain a relevant issue for the American public.

"It affects everybody," he says.

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Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.