This past week, a key economic advisor to the Trump administration provided a clearly wrong message about the rising use of credit card usage in the U.S. Kevin Hassett, the director of the National Economic Council since 2025, suggested that despite the hyper-inflation brought on by increased fuel costs due to the Iran war, the rise in credit card use indicates greater consumer spending as a good indicator of a healthy economy. Hassett stood outside of the White House and told Maria Bartiromo on Fox News that Americans are spending more money across the board. Hassett said he had the head of one of the big five banks in his office go through credit card data. Moreover, there is little doubt that Americans are relying more on credit cards than ever for everyday expenses such as gasoline, groceries, and rising living costs. However, the primary reason is the higher costs of such staples and several other obvious reasons.
Even before the growing and full inflationary impact of tariffs on many products and services occurs, credit card use in the U.S. had increased significantly, often to manage daily expenses. The result is that total debt had reached a record $1.277 trillion by the end of 2025. However, much of the increased use was due to several reasons. For example, it has been reported that Gen Z and Millennials are frequently using credit cards to build credit, while older adults (60+) have the highest ownership rate at 91%. Furthermore, many consumers increasingly use credit cards for rewards or the security/convenience of not carrying cash. Obviously, high inflation and rising costs for necessities like food and fuel have forced many households to rely on credit. For example, since the Iran war started, business at gas stations alone rose by 15.5 percent from February to March of this year.
Suggesting that the higher usage of credit cards is an indication of greater discretionary consumer spending is totally misleading. The reliance on credit is seen by most economists as a sign of stress for many working-class Americans facing higher rent, fuel and living costs. Consequently, one of the negative results of greater credit card usage is an increase in delinquency rates (accounts that are past due). Delinquency rates reportedly reached nearly 3% in early 2026, up from 1.53% in late 2021. Indeed, increased delinquency rates are also a direct result of today’s high credit card interest rates. For example, as of February 2026 the average credit card interest rate reportedly hovered around 21.52%, thus making debt progressively more expensive to repay. More and more people are going into bigger debt then ever!
Once again, this is an example of the Trump administration highlighting economic information without fully explaining the whole picture as to what certain financial data really represents. Nit picking information of this kind for obvious political reasons has been and apparently will continue to be the modus operandi of this administration. As a result, one must be very concerned about the Trump administration’s biased and deliberate misuse of data to give a more positive account of the current economy. The result is a blatant form of providing misinformation. When I saw and heard Hassett’s conclusions about the implications of higher credit card usage, I immediately recognized another form of White House economic “bull shit”. Moreover, one cannot help but see a pattern here. Unfortunately, for many of us, this pattern will lead to increased mistrust in anything coming out of the White House and in particular from its economic advisors!
FROLITICKS 