But the study also offered some hope, in that it found that increasing the minimum required monthly payment on credit cards spurs borrowers to not only meet the minimum, but to pay off substantially more, possibly eliminating their debt years earlier.
Britain's reliance on households using loans and credit cards to spur economic growth has put the gradual recovery of the past five years in jeopardy, the International Monetary Fund has warned.
Over the past few years MasterCard and Visa have made it more difficult for gamblers to use their cards online, spurring millions to use PayPal (for more on Visa's payments system, see story on page 38).
Speculation that such talks might be on the cards has been spurred by the recent release on parole from prison of Abbasi Madani, the founder-leader of the outlawed political party, the Islamic Salvation Front, or FIS.Mr Madani had been serving a 12-year sentence delivered in 1992 for undermining state security.
Professor Dunn said higher minimum payments may provide a sort of "jolt" to card holders, spurring them to pay off their debt.
"We hope that, by shining the spotlight on the best and worst performers, our report card will spur the industry to provide better information to the public and to change their practices in the most critical areas," he said in a statement.
By all accounts, Mr. Perlman has won over the musicians with his personal style, conducting technique and power as a drawing card, his reputation having spurred a sharp increase in attendance for performances at the Performing Arts Center at Purchase College in New York.
Known as the Elm City Resident Card, New Haven's municipal ID has spurred similar efforts in other so-called "sanctuary cities" around the country since its inception.
But from the 1980s, financial deregulation and new tax legislation spurred the growth of credit cards, home equity loans, subprime mortgages and predatory lending.
Cheap, accessible picture cards were popular not because they were valuable, but because they spurred the imagination.
