The Growth And Diffusion Of Credit Cards In Society

Credit cards are used by every segment of our society, from college students to retirees, from the unemployed to hopeful entrepreneurs, from some of the poorest households to the wealthiest, and across all race, sex, and ethnic groups. This study documents the growth in credit cards as a method of paying for and financing purchases in the United States, and the diffusion of credit cards through almost all segments of the American public. Using data collected by the Federal Reserve Board in its Survey of Consumer Finances, this paper focuses on the period from 1970 (four years after the introduction of what are now Visa and MasterCard) to 2001 (the most recent year for which the Survey of Consumer Finance data are available). About 73 percent of all households had at least one credit card in 2001, up from 16 percent in 1970. And households use these cards more than they used to: the average household that had at least one credit card charged $720 a month in 2001 compared with $136 in 1970 (both in 2002 dollars). Households also use credit cards more as a source of financing. Between 1970 and 2001, there was an eight-fold increase in the dollar value of credit-card debt held by the average U.S. household. Credit cards have displaced store cards and installment loans as a source of financing.Credit cards have become increasingly available and are used more by most segments of society. Disadvantaged groups, in particular, have experienced high growth in credit card access and use. For example, in 1970, 2 percent of all low-income households owned credit cards. By 2001, more than one third did. In fact, by 2001 credit cards on average accounted for over 45 percent of low-income households' non-mortgage debt. Another traditionally disadvantaged group, single women, has also gained increased access to credit through credit cards. More than 60 percent of all single women without children have credit cards, while over 50 percent of single women with children own cards - and most carry balances on those cards.Over the last thirty years, virtually all demographic groups have increased their ownership and use of credit cards. Credit cards have become an indispensable means for Americans and consumers worldwide to make safe, convenient payment transactions. More importantly, credit cards have helped households to obtain credit that, certainly for the less wealthy, may not have been available otherwise.

A systematic investigation of growth in nature and society, from tiny organisms to the trajectories of empires and civilizations. Growth has been both an unspoken and an explicit aim of our individual and collective striving. It governs the lives of microorganisms and galaxies; it shapes the capabilities of our extraordinarily large brains and the fortunes of our economies. Growth is manifested in annual increments of continental crust, a rising gross domestic product, a child's growth chart, the spread of cancerous cells. In this magisterial book, Vaclav Smil offers systematic investigation of growth in nature and society, from tiny organisms to the trajectories of empires and civilizations. Smil takes readers from bacterial invasions through animal metabolisms to megacities and the global economy. He begins with organisms whose mature sizes range from microscopic to enormous, looking at disease-causing microbes, the cultivation of staple crops, and human growth from infancy to adulthood. He examines the growth of energy conversions and man-made objects that enable economic activities—developments that have been essential to civilization. Finally, he looks at growth in complex systems, beginning with the growth of human populations and proceeding to the growth of cities. He considers the challenges of tracing the growth of empires and civilizations, explaining that we can chart the growth of organisms across individual and evolutionary time, but that the progress of societies and economies, not so linear, encompasses both decline and renewal. The trajectory of modern civilization, driven by competing imperatives of material growth and biospheric limits, Smil tells us, remains uncertain.

The world came to a tipping point in 2016, when Donald Trump was elected president of the United States of America. A man who has incited racism, hatred, sexism, and more is now the leader of the free world, but we should not be overly surprised: The same cutthroat values are being promoted at companies everywhere. Frank Mertens, a seasoned global marketing executive who has worked at some of the world's most admired firms, challenges these values in this commentary that promotes bringing the healthy ideas we teach our children at home to our workplaces. Looking at the cultural dynamics influencing society now, and the aspirations of the next big working generation, the author focuses on two themes that will help guide our efforts on the job: security and purpose. Join Mertens as he examines how we've lost our way in the workplace over the past sixty years, why the stakes are so high, and what we can do to rediscover our shared humanity in Work, In Progress.

The definitive account of the trillion-dollar payment card industry. The payment card business has evolved from its inception in the 1950s as a way to handle payment for expense-account lunches (the Diners Club card) into today's complex, sprawling industry that drives trillions of dollars in transaction volume each year. Paying with Plastic is the definitive source on an industry that has revolutionized the way we borrow and spend. More than a history book, Paying with Plastic delivers an entertaining discussion of the impact of an industry that epitomizes the notion of two-sided markets: those in which two or more customer groups receive value only if all sides are actively engaged. New to this second edition, the two-sided market discussion provides useful insight into the implications of these market dynamics for cardholder rewards, merchant interchange fees, and card acceptance. The authors, both of whom have researched the industry for more than 25 years, also examine the implications of the recent antitrust cases on the industry as well as other business and technological changes—including the massive consolidation brought about by bank mergers, the rise of the debit card, and the emergence of e-commerce—that could alter the payment card industry dramatically in the years to come.

This work offers an assessment of progress made towards the "information society". It begins from the premise that the construction of such a society in Europe is a dynamic process and that the journey towards a society so dependent upon digital information is far from straightforward.

" "Computerization movement" (CM) refers to a special kind of social and technological movement that promotes the adoption of computing within organizations and society. ... Through theoretical analyses, systematic empirical studies, field-based studies, and case studies of specific technologies, the book shows CMs to be driven by Utopian visions of technology that become part of the "ether" within society. The empirical studies presented here show the need for designers, users, and the media to be aware that CM rhetoric can propose grand visions that never become part of a reality and reinforce the need for critical and scholarly review of promising new technologies."--Back cover.

Business managers in developing countries would find in this volume a solid background to e-commerce at large, and to its significance within a wider framework of a resource-based view of their business and of the national economic settings within which they operate. The book is of special importance to the academic community of Internet students, as well as for those interested in economic development, by providing a pioneering insight into the issue of e-commerce in developing countries which may emerge strongly in the upcoming years. Aharon Kellerman, Growth and Change Undoubtedly an important contribution. E-commerce is a technology which holds the possibility of levelling the global trading playing field. This book provides a necessary review of current issues in e-commerce in developing economies, and a useful collection of good practice and solid theory for scholars, policymakers and professionals. John Peters, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, UK This is a road map of some of the challenges governments and companies face, in terms of physical and human infrastructure, as countries wrestle with a rapidly changing commercial environment. As the virtual world conquers ever more of the material world, countries that adapt and adopt to a cyber reality will likely do better. If you are doing business or setting policy in a developing country, you want to understand and address the issues raised in this book. Juan Enriquez, CEO, Biotechonomy, US and author of The Untied States of America and As the Future Catches You The authors of this unique volume provide a timely and valuable perspective on how technology and the Internet revolution are changing business and spurring development across the world, especially in emerging countries. Utilizing a framework grounded in rigorous theory, they provide a fine-grained understanding of electronic commerce adoption processes by public and private sector entities in developing countries. In so doing, they consider how each exchange encounter is shaped by, and in turn shapes, relational characteristics that form the basis for growth and development. Using a resource-based view of economies, the authors hypothesize that differences in the adoption of electronic commerce technologies in developing economies can be attributed to a sense-and-respond capability of governments with respect to new technologies, which they term technological opportunism . One of their main objectives is to establish the distinctiveness of technology opportunities from related constructs, such as innovativeness, and show that it offers a significantly better explanation of technology adoption and diffusion than do existing constructs. The book examines a number of developing countries experiences with electronic government, bringing real life experience to the adoption of an e-government model by looking at the issue from strategic as well as operational perspectives. The volume s ground-breaking research and conclusions will be of great interest to professionals, researchers and students in the areas of e-commerce and economic development; government officials of developing and newly industrialized countries contemplating e-government initiatives; and information technology managers.

How the American government has long used financial credit programs to create economic opportunities Federal housing finance policy and mortgage-backed securities have gained widespread attention in recent years because of the 2008 financial crisis, but issues of government credit have been part of American life since the nation’s founding. From the 1780s, when a watershed national land credit policy was established, to the postwar foundations of our current housing finance system, American Bonds examines the evolution of securitization and federal credit programs. Sarah Quinn shows that since the Westward expansion, the U.S. government has used financial markets to manage America’s complex social divides, and politicians and officials across the political spectrum have turned to land sales, home ownership, and credit to provide economic opportunity without the appearance of market intervention or direct wealth redistribution. Highly technical systems, securitization, and credit programs have been fundamental to how Americans determined what they could and should owe one another. Over time, government officials embraced credit as a political tool that allowed them to navigate an increasingly complex and fractured political system, affirming the government’s role as a consequential and creative market participant. Neither intermittent nor marginal, credit programs supported the growth of powerful industries, from railroads and farms to housing and finance; have been used for disaster relief, foreign policy, and military efforts; and were promoters of amortized mortgages, lending abroad, venture capital investment, and mortgage securitization. Illuminating America’s market-heavy social policies, American Bonds illustrates how political institutions became involved in the nation’s lending practices.