This seems to be a recurring theme across the world. I tend to be left of many debates on this forum. But this is a strange thing to have settled on: It is the lenders' responsibility to make sure that their customers can afford repayment. Consumers will take as much credit is offered to them. The complaint is rarely about making information available to consumers. It's about making the correct decisions for them.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not blaming media or politicians for taking this line. It seems true. People do not seem to be able to manage their debt. A stable solution will effectively put the decision of how much to borrow in the hands of someone else: Banks, Governments etc. not consumers.

Then this article goes on with the assumption (again, seemingly correct) that consumers are incapable of resisting the banks' marketing. Since many desicions are essentially made at the bank, they make a decision on a high credit line at a high interest rate. He suggests correcting this by making unsolicited direct marketing illegal. Supposedly, consumers would then actually look for a card with a reasonable interest rate instead of accepting whatever is given to them.