One of the reasons why I don’t expect as good as an economic recovery as the rest of the market currently does, is the massive leverage that consumers, especially in the US and the UK, still hold. With the house price fall here in the UK putting paid to the consumer using their property as a cash machine any rise in interest rates is unwelcome. This report yesterday that Credit Card interest rates had risen to 18.1% y/y from 16.3% two years ago shows a line of credit utterly immune from base rates at 0.5%. With credit standards also being tightened dramatically the days of switching between enticing low rates for many are also over.