Word: debts
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...threat of a default on the national debt, that was really more about spin than substance. The G.O.P. had long intended to use the need to lift the debt ceiling to gain leverage in budget negotiations; the Administration had an equal interest in casting the Republicans as reckless for holding the nation's credit hostage to "extreme" demands. Both sides, however, were quietly counting on Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin to stave off an actual default through internal bookkeeping changes--and last Wednesday he came through. He used an arcane process called "disinvestment," which enabled him to shift tens of billions...
...with credit-card slips. He vacationed in Paris, London and Hawaii, dined at Beverly Hills restaurants and splurged on computer programs and compact discs. But Zachary, 39, recently canceled three of his four credit cards and has begun to pay off the $20,000 he piled up in plastic debt. He is also rethinking his holiday shopping list. "I'll be much more practical and much less extravagant," Zachary says. "I'll just buy things that people really need or want...
...season that starts this week into a "pretty crummy" one, says Ed Yardeni, the chief economist for the C.J. Lawrence securities firm. Consumers are buckling beneath nearly $1 trillion in installment loans--almost twice the level of a decade ago. The average household carries $3,900 in credit-card debt alone. "Consumers are tapped out," says Peter Caruso, who follows retailing for Merrill Lynch. "There is no spending power left." Indeed, the government reported last week that retail sales dipped 0.2% in October compared with the previous month. Even the normally upbeat National Retail Federation expects holiday sales to increase...
That's undoubtedly true. Card issuers mailed out 2.1 billion solicitations in 1994, enough for eight cards for every American, according to RAM Research, a Maryland consulting firm. But with debt already weighing down many consumers, those invitations to spend are more likely than ever to go straight into the trash can, along with a stack of mail-order catalogs...
...under the Maastricht Treaty. The striking workers are trying to spook the government into finding another solution. The problem is there is no other solution. Pride is very much involved. The French are very proud of their public service system. But the government understands that Maastricht requires that the debt be reduced. And there is no other way. These cuts are necessary." There about five million public sector workers in France, about ten percent of the overall population. The last massive strike was held on October 10. Another is planned for next Tuesday...