See, Norway, despite my disagreement with a socialist economy, does have a fair amount of maturity when it comes to managing their economy. notably their petroleum surplus fund. They ensure they have a balanced budget and, not that I've visited Norway, but they just seem to be a more financially disciplined people.
Which got me thinking as I was driving up to St. Cloud and heard a commercial for "lowering your credit card debt!"
"Are you in debt?
Are collectors calling you?
STOP THE ANNOYING CALLS!
Contact us at 1800-NOMOREDEBT
We can end the harrassing calls, cut your monthly payments in half and lower your debt from 30-60%"
And it was one of those things where, yes, we've all heard these commercials before, but you have to pull yourself away from it and say, "gee, how pathetic is this, that we've become so bad at managing our personal finances commercials like this even exist?"
Furthermore, the whole tone these commercials take that you are the victim if you have too much debt. And the insulting premise that they can "Lower your debt from 30-60%."
Well doesn't that just mean you're going to fail to pay back what you owe? And that's OKAY?
And that's why I wondered if any of our friends in Norway (or Scandinavia for that matter) can tell me if they have commercials like this, or is it a purely, and shameful, fact only American's have this? Dtrum, this happen in Switzerland when you were there?? Curious to know.
7 comments:
Not in Denamrk that I noticed a month ago.
But the whole credit card phenom is a lot less widespread in Europe in general, I believe, but do not know they actually still have standards there about whom they trust with "credit on demand".
(Says a guy who has a card with a $25K Limit card. What kind of idiot company would issue me with that? (That'd be VISA))
Lots more debit cards though.
Well, I live in Iceland (that's kinda almost Scandinavia) and I've never heard anything remotely like that in a commercial.
I have seen no such commercials in the states of the Former Soviet Union. They are just now seeing a huge up swing in credit card usage, so we'll see what happens in the coming years.
I have forwarded your blog to a Norwegian friend. (She currently lives in the US, but she has visited home a good bit and still knows lots of people there.)
And yes, those commercials ARE advertising that you don't pay back part of that debt. The idea, I gather, is that they go to the CC company, tell them that you can't pay, and negotiate a lump-sum payment. The bank then writes off a portion of your debt, which you have to pay tax on as income, and I think the debt-reduction company pays the lump sum and then you pay them back or something.
Of course, what happens if you then try to do the same thing with them?!?
I have no patience with that sort of thing. Kind of like all the people who are intentionally walking away from mortgages that they COULD pay, just because it no longer makes financial sense to keep the property. Hello - does your word mean nothing to you?!?!?
Norwegians are, unfortunately, no more financially responsible than Americans. People borrow more on their houses than they are worth, and the whole foreclosure drama is now reaching the shores of Scandinavia. Not sure about the commercials, but there are certainly commercials for quick loans from GE etc...just like the good ol' USA. And as far as the management of the surplus oil fund...well, we can discuss that one day too....
I haven't seen such commercials here. In Switzerland and Germany making debt is probably more socially inacceptible than in America. Germans and Swiss have less credit card debt because of low limits set by banks. But I know many people who are heavily indebted by bank loans.
Now we even have TV shows that help people to decrease their debt.
Don't forget that Europeans don't have to pay for college, they are seldom self-employed, and they cannot buy houses because they are way to expensive. That pretty much eliminates many ways to get into debt.
Its this North American entitlement mentality. What is the message of credit cards, of installment plans, of "don't pay till"...? We the people inherently deserve what we want, regardless of whether we have earned it yet or ever will. Its our Right!
Debit cards are pretty big here but we've got em in Scandinavian America (Canada) too of course. On the other hand the ousted - Liberal - federal government balanced the budget a decade or so ago. We were in such bad shape that the country got the idea that money doesn't grow on trees, and the Liberals had no competition so they had much less pressure to buy votes - same thing happened in Alberta with an untouchable conservative government that actually cut spending at one point. I wonder if countries with very cold winters are inclined to greater personal frugality - leftover from memories of the need to store up for winter or a psyche made defensive by a harsh climate. When its -30 celcius you're in survival mode - not thinking about what you want and deserve but just wanting to get by to the next day. I think this would also translate to a bias for larger government to coddle the people with warm fuzzy money from trees programs and... (speak of the devil) entitlements.
I love this blog : )
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