Personal debt in UK is £1.451 trillion and rising.
We have this huge private household debt. We have it because banks love to lend because they create money in the act of lending it out (money which they magic into existence in the act of lending it and which then becomes a debt to the banks).
We should rein in this freedom of the banks. It might make for a brief austerity but the Bank of England can create money and can give it to the government to put into things that help develop a productive economy. Then we will be able to earn the money for reasonable things we need to buy.
Banks egg people on to spend because it benefits the banks. Stopping the banks having this incentive will be a big step towards cutting our personal indebtedness.
But we should also forgo extravagances that we cannot, at present, afford and should moderate our tastes and desires to keep up with fashion when we can’t afford it.
We should also recognise the awful experience that it is for some people to fall into debt and into the grip of loan sharks and take steps to protect people in such circumstances.