第2776期:How we got hooked on credit cards(4)

This movement was dealt a devastating blow in 1968, when the Supreme Court removed the cap on state interest rates, allowing massive interest hikes throughout the 1970s. New complications emerged in late 80s with the invention of credit scores, which reinforced the racial, gender, and class biases already impacting credit card applications.1968 年，这场反信用运动遭受了毁灭性打击。当时最高法院取消了各州利率的上限，导致 1970 年代出现了大幅度的利率飙升。到了 80 年代末，信用评分系统的出现带来了新的复杂问题，它进一步加剧了原本就存在于信用卡申请中的种族、性别和阶级偏见。Today, credit cards are a $500 billion industry. Banks consider these lines of credit when deciding whether or not to approve loans, incentivizing customers to maintain multiple credit cards. And since most users don't pay off their bills in full each month, they rack up debt and endless interest payments. By the end of 2023, credit card debt in the US alone exceeded $1 trillion. So while the earliest credit cards may have been the most limited, they might have actually been the best for our wallets.如今，信用卡已经成为一个 5000 亿美元规模的产业。银行在决定是否批准贷款时会参考这些信用额度，从而刺激客户持有多张信用卡。而由于大多数用户每个月并不会全额还清账单，他们不断积累债务和无止境的利息支出。到 2023 年底，仅美国的信用卡债务就已超过 1 万亿美元。所以，尽管最早的信用卡功能最为有限，但它们或许反而才是对我们钱包最友好的。