Again, things pile up in my e-mail folder for "stuff to write about on the blog." In the absence of time for longer posts:

• The Fed reported on July 9 that consumer credit rose increased at an annual rate of 6.4% in May. That was dramatically up from April when the increase was 1.1% an an annual rate but the same as March when it was again 6.4%. The monthly fluctuations are noise, but the trend is clear. Consumer credit continues to rise even after the 2005 bankruptcy law went into effect.
• The UK is adding a course to its curriculum for all 11 – 16 year olds on "economic wellbeing and financial stability." The London Times has the story. The Children, Schools, and Families Secretary placed the curricular within the context of a UK that has seen skyrocketing consumer debt and rising personal insolvency rates. More consumer education undoubtedly is needed–especially in light of the statistic that 5 million British people are consider innumerate and 17 million scarcely have the skills to make change on a simple transaction. Still, as Oren Bar-Gill discussed in his posts last week here at Credit Slips, consumers are subject to all kinds of biases that consumer lenders are more than happy to exploit (and I would exploit too if I were in the business of consumer lending). These biases are ingrained, part of the human condition. Although consumer education is good, policymakers should not be deluded that it will lead to huge improvements. (Thanks to Gary Neustadter at Santa Clara for bringing this story to my attention.)
• A day late and literally a dollar short (given the newsstand price) is to note yesterday ‘s(July 9) front-page article in the New York Times on the high foreclosure rate in Atlanta. I suspect most Credit Slips readers have seen it, but if you have not, it is definitely worth a read. In the middle of the story is a paragraph describing how Atlanta’s unemployment rate and growth rate mirror the country. The area is not doing poorly, but the foreclosures come as an income shock such a job loss or health problem leads to financial distress.