'Running off the cliff': An explosion of household debt has put the US economy in a tough spot
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2026-06-21T09:45:01.232Z
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America's swelling debt pile bodes ill for the the US economy, Société Générale said.
In a recent note to clients, the European Bank flagged a concerning trend that's taken hold in the US in recent years: the rise in household debt and the concurrent decline in household savings.
Total liabilities among US households swelled to a record $19.9 trillion at the end of the first quarter, according to Fed data, a sign that Americans are continuing to borrow and fund their spending.
Yet, the personal savings rate is hovering near a record low, shrinking to 2.6% in April, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
The trend might be the result of the so-called wealth effect, a phenomenon where Americans spend more because they feel wealthier as the price of assets like stocks and real estate rise, Albert Edwards, a SocGen strategist and famed market permabear, said.
The market has soared amid the unrelenting enthusiasm for AI, with the tech trade making a red-hot comeback after stumbling earlier this year.
The problem is that, if one assumes consumers are shelling out more due to their rising wealth on paper, economic growth is increasingly exposed to the AI trade. Consumer spending makes up around 70% of US GDP, according to one analysis from the Boston Fed last year.
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Measures of household income growth, meanwhile, have started to fall. Personal income excluding transfers contracted $16.5 trillion in April, down around $200 billion from its peak in 2025.
"The US consumer currently resembles the Wile E. Coyote character, running off the cliff and suspended in thin air briefly, before collapsing," Edwards said, referring to the potential for consumer spending to see a sharp drop if Americans were motivated to save more, such as if stock prices were to take a beating.
"It doesn't take a Fed PhD economist to tell us that if the US saving ratio (SR) stops falling, consumer spending will grow in line with income, which is falling. And woe betide the economy if the SR actually rises back to more normal levels," he added.
Edwards also pointed to the declining efficiency of debt to boost economic growth. The credit intensity of GDP — a measure of how much debt is needed to boost GDP growth by a set unit — rose to 3.73 last year, the most debt needed to fuel growth in at least the last 70 years, according to an analysis from Bespoke Investment.
"This makes the economy all the more vulnerable should investors doubt the pot of gold at the end of the AI rainbow. Watch this debt-laden space," Edwards added.
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Jennifer Sor is a reporter at Business Insider. She covers financial markets and the economy, with a focus on retail investing, job trends, and the pursuit of wealth. She regularly speaks to famed forecasters and top investors in markets, including Gary Shilling, Nouriel Roubini, and Larry McDonald. Her work has also been featured in outlets such as Forbes, Bloomberg Opinion's "Money Stuff," and SiriusXM Business Radio. Prior to her time at BI, Jennifer covered tech and business news at the San Francisco Chronicle and Los Angeles Business Journal. She graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara with a bachelor's degree in economics and English.Have an interesting story to share? Please reach out to her at jsor@businessinsider.com or @jennreports.81 on the encrypted messaging app Signal. She can also be reached on LinkedIn.Story highlights
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