During their first week in college, freshmen receive on the average eight applications for credit cards. Credit card companies target college students because they have a lifetime to acquire debt—and pay it off. The average freshman in 2008 finished the year with a credit card debt of $2,038, while graduating seniors owed $4,138—up 44 percent since 2004. Many students cope with debt by cutting expenses, taking jobs, or skipping school, while some do not cope. A 2006 documentary film described the plight of two college students in Oklahoma who, awash in credit card debt, committed suicide.
Many college students incur debt responsibly, most often to pay for college. In 2008 the average college graduate owed $23,000, mostly for college loans. But this investment usually pays off—literally: College graduates on average earned $57,200, while individuals with only a high school education earned $31,300.
Many of the founders of the nation were also entangled in personal debt. In 1798 Robert Morris, the financier who had devised the funded debt to pay and equip George Washington's army, was imprisoned for personal debt. He languished in the Prune Street debtor's prison in Philadelphia for three years. Thomas Jefferson, on paper
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¦ Monticello, designed and built by Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson cherished classical Roman architecture; such architectural innovations greatly increased the cost of the building—and Jefferson's indebtedness.
Source: Langdon Clay/Esto
One of the richest men in Virginia, owner of thousands of acres of land and 200 slaves, was also plagued by debt. His financial woes mounted as he built additions to Monticello, his home, and acquired more books for his library, one of the finest in the nation. Creditors harassed him. "I am miserable till I shall owe not a shilling," he wrote in 1787. When he died, he was bankrupt. His slaves were sold to pay creditors.
Jefferson's antipathy toward debt influenced his ideas about government. He opposed federal expenditures because they could lead to indebtedness. A weak government, too, was less likely to restrict individual freedoms, a doctrine that prevailed for a century and endures to this day. Few presidents have left a deeper imprint. His parsimony sometimes left the nation vulnerable to foreigners, whether high-handed European rulers or pirate states in northern Africa. On a few occasions— such as the chance to acquire the Louisiana territory—he splurged, but soon recanted. On leaving office he urged his successor to pay off the federal deficit.1 ¦ 10
World History
