WHATEVER YOU DO, DON’T LET RICHARD CORDRAY KNOW ABOUT THIS

The return of subprime!

The number of general purpose credit cards issued by banks to subprime customers jumped 41 percent in 2011 to 12 million, up from 8.5 million in 2010, according to a recent report by the credit rating agency Equifax. That compares with the most recent peak of 18.8 million in 2008. . . .

In addition, credit limits on new subprime bank cards grew 55 percent last year to $12.5 billion, the highest level since $27.4 billion in 2008 and $41.6 billion in 2007. [Emph. added]

This is a good thing. Subprime lenders surely went overboard in the run-up to the credit crisis, but the counter-reaction after everything blew up went overboard too. People can use the credit. . . .