Live now, pay later economy comes at a heavy cost for us all

Really interesting piece here about the implications of the buy now, pay later economy and how renting is coming back into fashion.

All of which hints at the fact that inter-generational equity remains one of the biggest issues that we have yet to address. It's an old favourite of mine, but, as I remind my students, their parents won't have paid for their university education, will have generous state pensions and a free-at-point-of-service NHS. They, on the other hand are, in my mind, unlikely to live to enjoy all of these things.

(Of course, you could also factor in the benefits of EU membership, a rapid increase in wealth as a result of changed attitudes to home-ownership in the 1980s and so on)

However, the biggest concern for Inman is that at some point interest rates are likely to rise, increasing the cost of debt repayments and making those people who've taken out loans, or who live on credit, far worse off than had they lived within their means. And before you sneer, it isn't always that easy for the poorest in society to avoid this.

This BBC clip looks at how Teesside has been affected by coronavirus, with the poorest and most vulnerable often the worst affected.