credit
credit is a funny thing. in some sense it inflates the value of things. i won't pay $3000 cash up front for that tv. but i will pay $100/month for three years. from the buyer's point of view, the value of that tv has gone up. cause i can have it right now. from the seller's point of view, the value of the buyer's future earnings goes up. which most likely are very similar to his past earnings. with which he was unable to save $100/month for *two* years to buy a state of the art television. it's really no wonder we're addicted to debt.