Yahoo! Finance: Business expert discusses debt across the lifespan

An article on Yahoo! Finance on Americans feeling more confident about taking on debt and their ability to pay if off and start saving one day in the future when if fact debt starts from youth and continues throughout life quotes Lewis Mandell, professor of finance and managerial economics. "It's unfortunate, but people have always judged others on superficial stuff," he said. "So you have to have nice clothes, a nice car, a nice apartment. You have to be willing to spend money at bars just to socialize, I think this is considered the norm, it's not considered extravagant. But even normative behavior is expensive."