After bankruptcy, credit cards will be issued, but may have to be secured by deposits and loans will carry higher interest rates. The bottom line, however is yes, one will get credit again. But read on, dear reader: when the bankruptcy code was revised 3-years past now, it placed longer wait periods between repeat bankruptcies. If you fall into serious debt again, there may be no repeat relief in sight. Even if you survive the wait, serial filing is not something to be desired: it should be a one-time thing. One reason it repeats is because people do get credit after they file. And that’s not a good thing, because the credit they get carries a punitive interest rate. A true fresh start occurs if one avoids taking loans after bankruptcy.

Easier said than done. The current climate might check spending. Ultimately, though, Americans cannot escape the ingrained impulse to keep up with the Joneses. In the big, utilitarian scheme, spending (or greed, some might argue) is good for the economy. Money is designed to flow, hence the word currency. A successful economy is a river current, not a dry creek bed. But inevitably, some drown in the river that drives a thriving economy. The goals of the abstract economy are not consistent with the desired ends of all the real individuals.