Pub-owner Sean Hughes, who's his 20s, has seen a big change in people's spending habits even in his young life.

SEAN HUGHES, Pub Owner: When I was very young, I mean, it was different then, because credit wasn't a real kind of thing in people's lives. It was obviously -- you know, if you had the money to buy something, then you could buy it.

Whereas now, people just seem to look at something like a television, and be like, "I want that," and they can get it, because they can get on no percent interest or they can get it on whatever.

SELLER: We got things for 5 pounds, 10 pounds, 20 pounds.

MARGARET WARNER: That attitude led many British consumers, especially younger ones, to run up huge levels of personal debt, more than even in the United States. Total household indebtedness here, credit card and mortgage debt combined, stands at 160 percent of GDP, the highest in the developed world....

MARGARET WARNER: But now British banks are squeezing these consumers through their credit cards. Credit counselor Jahanara Hussain works for a nonprofit in London's East End.

Read or watch the whole thing.

Filed under: * Economics, Politics • Economy • Credit Markets • Personal Finance • The September 2008 Proposed Henry Paulson 700 Billion Bailout Package • * International News & Commentary • England / UK

1. Pageantmaster [KJS to Coventry] wrote: The pundits and international bodies reckon that it is going to be worse here than almost anywhere else.  As the world’s leading financial capital many people and businesses are on the line.  Our government is worried enough to have opened its checkbook and begun scribbling. November 28, 10:42 am | [comment link]

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