Interesting sidebar: Much of this accumulated debt they speak of relates to younger people. Credit card companies have long targeted college kids. The companies know the kids will not exercise self-control and max out quickly. The companies also know many of these kids will ruin their credit.
Why do the companies target these kids, then? Because Visa, et al, also knows that enough parents of the kids will foot the bill so as to make the marketing strategy successful. So what that it injures kids who don't know what they're getting into. It's only business. (In the minds of the companies, that it.)
With the blessings of the colleges, who share in the financial windfall with the credit card companies. The credit card companies set up their tables in the student unions offering credit cards with the university logo on it. What a racket.