Boom and bust

A LOT of young people are struggling with debt and can’t afford to pay the monthly interest, let alone pay off the actual loan.

When I got my first credit card in the Seventies, I had to see the bank manager first and I was given a £50 limit. Now it seems you can get any number of credit cards. The biggest concern is payday loans, with interest rates of 1,500 per cent or more. Not even the Krays charged that much.

If the Government is considering capping energy prices, why can’t they cap these extortionate rates of interest?

Common sense says if you can’t afford it, don’t buy it. But self-control has gone out of fashion. The younger generation suffers from the ‘I want it now’ syndrome, which is encouraged by our buy-now, pay-later society.

We can criticise the financial institutions for the fact so many are in debt, but mostly people have only themselves to blame. RONALD BALL, Farnborough, Hants.