&gt;Credit was pushed very hard at consumers, and politicians do control the extent to which that&#x27;s legal, even if they&#x27;re not really to blame for it being possible.<p>Credit must be pushed hard. Credit is the origin of money, under these systems. Credit must expand so that the periodical interest obligations can be met by those with existing credit obligations. When credit no longer expands at a sufficient rate, the systems enter contractions, which will quickly end the system, unless credit expands enough to save the system for a while longer.