India's Middle Class: A Debt-Fueled Time Bomb Waiting to Explode
businessworld.in> Once known for its budget-friendly habits and prudent financial planning— the Indian middle class— day by day is finding itself trapped in a vicious cycle of debt. The pressure to maintain a certain lifestyle, fueled by the rise of social media and the fear of missing out, has led many to take on loans which are way more than their income.
Wild to see the similarities between India and the US as it relates to social media being an economic FOMO flywheel.
It's easy to blame social media, but banks, credit card issuers, central banks, etc. don't seem to be pulling back on the levels of credit they're extending. FOMO and social media didn't create excess in student loans in the USA. The US gov itself is trillions in debt. That's not from social media, FOMO, etc.
Social and FOMO is a symptom.
Why would you pull back when it’s profitable? People are spending beyond their means, and it’s profitable to extend them credit to do so, even accounting for losses.
It is, until it's not. It's a classic Tragedy of the commons.