Australia's credit card bill hits a record $42.7b Based on a population of 20 million people, "every man, woman, and child" in Australia owes about $2150 each to a credit card company. While Australia's credit card bill hit a record $42.698 billion in December, up from $41.919 billion in November, figures released today show consumers are also being more frugal with their hip-pocket plastic A succession of recent Reserve (or Central) Bank ... Read full entry

Stress and debt make Sydney a violent city. Ironically the problems we now find ourselves faced with were partially occasioned by the period of relatively low interest rates that has now passed us by. People began borrowing money to purchase property (sometimes several), sometimes committing themselves to the hilt, but made little allowance for possible interest rate rises. Sydney is an angry city with longer working hours, climbing levels of debt ... Read full entry