Keeping Up

Arthur “Pop” Momand created the comic “Keeping Up with the Joneses,” a strip depicting the McGinnis family who struggle to keep up with the lifestyle of their neighbors.  Since its creation in 1913, Americans have been doing just that.  Our economy is driven by consumption.  Spending on goods and services represents roughly 70% of the nation’s output.  Lending helps fuel this consumption, offering access to the goods and services desired now for payment in the future.  While there are occasional hiccups in the system, debt has been a driver of growth.

Currently, however, more and more Americans are having a difficult time keeping up with their payments, let alone the Joneses.  According to this article from the credit rating agency TransUnion, millions of student loan borrowers could be just weeks away from defaulting.  They estimate that 31% of these loans are delinquent, meaning they are more than 90 days past due.  Of these 5.8 million delinquent loans, TransUnion estimates 1.8 million could reach default this month (July 2025).

Credit card debt doesn’t look so promising either.  According to this note from the Federal Reserve, Americans’ total credit card balance remains elevated at $1.182 trillion (as of Q1 2025 data).  While a large number, it is down from $1.211 trillion in the prior quarter.  For some context, the level was $770 billion in Q1 2021, so the level of credit card indebtedness is up 54% in four years.  And this debt is not cheap.  The central bank estimates that the average annual percentage rate in the second quarter of 2025 was 22.25%.  Interest rates aren’t the only thing rising: delinquencies are climbing as well.  The percentage of credit card debt that is 30 days late is reaching levels last seen in the Global Financial Crisis (see chart above). 

Taken together, these trends may be painting a sobering picture of the American consumer.  While debt has long been a pillar of economic expansion, its sustainability depends on the borrower’s ability to repay.  The sharp rise in delinquencies (both on student loans and credit cards) signals growing strain on household finances.  If the pattern continues, it could ripple beyond individual borrowers, potentially affecting broader economic stability.  In the century since Pop Momand sketched his first panel, the stakes of “keeping up” have grown far more complex.  And, for many, far more costly.