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At least credit card debt has fallen across the board.

"The survey also confirmed that Americans are shifting the kinds of debts that they carry. The share of families with credit card debt declined by 6.7 percentage points to 39.4 percent, and the median balance of that debt fell 16.1 percent to $2,600."

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/family-net-worth-drops-level-1...

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This has recently shifted to student loan debt however. The effects of this type of debt are a lot subtler and nastier because you can't get student loan debt discharged in bankruptcy proceedings.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/college-inc/post/student...

What I found interesting was that about a quarter of Americans never had credit cards -- 23% as of 2007.

I'd love to see deeper stats on who does/doesn't carry a revolving credit account. I've become increasingly convinced they're among the most dangerous financial instruments you can present someone with. Others (housing, student debt) are at least backed by assets and/or earning power, however much they may be subject to bubble inflation.

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