Going Broke

Over the last four decades, debt, bankruptcy, and home foreclosures have risen to epidemic levels, and the personal savings rate has sunk dangerously low. Why, in the richest nation on earth, can't Americans hold on to their money?First published in 2008, Stuart Vyse's Going Broke described the epidemic of personal debt that existed in the years leading up to the Great Recession, and anticipated the home mortgage crisis that startedit. Ten years later, a fully-updated new edition tackles the post-recession era of economic recovery. Today total household debt has actually surpassed pre-recession levels, and some of the same problems thatpreceded the crash are back again. But the shape of our troubles has changed: the new face of financial failure features auto repossession, bankruptcy, eviction, wage garnishment, and being sued for unpaid bills. Vyse offers a unique psychological perspective on the financial behavior of the many Americans today who find they cannot make ends meet, illuminating these and other causes of our wildly self-destructive spending habits. But he doesn't entirely blame the victim, arguing instead thatthe mountain of debt burying so many of us is the inevitable byproduct of America's turbo-charged economy together with social and technological trends that undermine our self-control.This new edition illuminates everything from the rise of the credit card and ballooning student loan debt, to the expansion of new shopping opportunities provided by social media, revealing how vast changes in American society over the last 40 years have greatly complicated our relationship with money. Vyse concludes with both personal advice for the individual who wants to achieve greater financial stability and with pointed recommendations for economic and social changethat will help promote the financial health of all Americans.

“"With deep compassion and penetrating insight, Stuart Vyse turns the lens of science to uncover the reasons so many people cannot save what they earn...Vyse's program on how to avoid debt should be printed on the back of every credit card application form." --Michael Shermer, author of Why People Believe Weird Things and The Mind of the Market Praise for the First Edition "In this compelling and wide-ranging work, Vyse explores the history of lending in America, the invention of the shopping cart, the evolution of self-service discount shopping, and the explosion of branding and advertising." -- Michelle Singletary, The Washington Post”

"With deep compassion and penetrating insight, Stuart Vyse turns the lens of science to uncover the reasons so many people cannot save what they earn...Vyse's program on how to avoid debt should be printed on the back of every credit card application form." --Michael Shermer, author of Why People Believe Weird Things and The Mind of the MarketPraise for the First Edition"In this compelling and wide-ranging work, Vyse explores the history of lending in America, the invention of the shopping cart, the evolution of self-service discount shopping, and theexplosion of branding and advertising."-- Michelle Singletary, The Washington Post

Stuart Vyse is a behavioral scientist, teacher, and writer. He holds PhD and MA degrees in psychology and BA and MA degrees in English Literature. He taught at Providence College, the University of Rhode Island, and Connecticut College, where he was Joanne Toor Cummings '50 Professor. Vyse's book Believing in Magic: The Psychology of Superstition won the 1999 William James Book Award of the American Psychological Association and has beentranslated into Japanese, German, and Romanian.

Over the last four decades, debt, bankruptcy, and home foreclosures have risen to epidemic levels, and the personal savings rate has sunk dangerously low. Why, in the richest nation on earth, can't Americans hold on to their money?First published in 2008, Stuart Vyse's Going Broke described the epidemic of personal debt that existed in the years leading up to the Great Recession, and anticipated the home mortgage crisis that started it. Ten years later, a fully-updated new edition tackles the post-recession era of economic recovery. Today total household debt has actually surpassed pre-recession levels, and some of the same problems that preceded the crash are back again. But the shape of our troubles haschanged: the new face of financial failure features auto repossession, bankruptcy, eviction, wage garnishment, and being sued for unpaid bills. Vyse offers a unique psychological perspective on the financial behavior of the many Americans today who find they cannot make ends meet, illuminating these and othercauses of our wildly self-destructive spending habits. But he doesn't entirely blame the victim, arguing instead that that the mountain of debt burying so many of us is the inevitable byproduct of America's turbo-charged economy together with social and technological trends that undermine our self-control. This updated edition of Going Broke illuminates everything from the rise of the credit card, to ballooning student loan debt, to the expansion of new shopping opportunities providedby social media, revealing how vast changes in American society over the last 40 years have greatly complicated our relationship with money. Vyse concludes with both personal advice for the individual who wants to achieve greater financial stability and with pointed recommendations for economic and socialchange that will help promote the financial health of all Americans.

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