[T]he lucrative lending practices of America’s merchants of debt have led millions of Americans — young and old, native and immigrant, affluent and poor — to the brink. More and more, Americans can identify with miners of old: in debt to the company store with little chance of paying up.

It is not just individuals but the entire economy that is now suffering. Practices that produced record profits for many banks have shaken the nation’s financial system to its foundation. As a growing number of Americans default, banks are recording hundreds of billions in losses, devastating their shareholders.

A must-read article in Sunday’s New York Times evokes Merle Travis’ “Sixteen Tons” to shine a light on the practices that credit-card issuers, mortgage banks, and other issuers have used in recent years to more than triple  the amount of debt carried by the average household (in today’s dollars) over the past 25 years, even as the national household savings rate has dwindled to nothing. I deal with these issues every day in my practice, and yet it still takes me by surprise sometimes to realize how successful the lending industry has been at tilting the playing field in their favor, even at the cost of the economy as a whole.

Gretchen Morgenson’s front-page article is part of a package of stories and interactive features called “The Debt Trap,” about which I hope to write more later.

Even honest and conscientious people can all too easily find themselves ensnared in the web of penalties, fees, and rate games that credit card issuers have created. Bankoholic.com helps cut through the clutter with 5 Credit Card Fees You Probably Didn’t Know About.

Tip: whenever you receive a credit card solicitation, look for the “Schumer Box,” a prominent table that gives you important information such as the APR, finance charges, and payment terms. It won’t protect you from all the fees, but it’ll help you weed out the worst cards.

Even presidential candidates aren’t immune to high credit card rates. From Dan Ray (via Bob Lawless at Credit Slips): John McCain’s recent financial disclosure form revealed that he and his wife Cindy hold a joint credit card from Chase with an APR of 25.99 percent—which Dan says smells suspiciously like a penalty rate. Barack Obama has proposed a “Credit Card Bill of Rights” to rein in credit card issuer abuses; maybe Sen. McCain’s experience with Chase will prompt him to do something along the same lines.

An astute column today about the institutions that have helped push so many Americans into unmanageable debt, from what one might consider an unlikely source: conservative New York Times editorial columnist David Brooks.

The agents of destruction are many. State governments have played a role. They aggressively hawk their lottery products…

Payday lenders have also played a role. They seductively offer fast cash — at absurd interest rates — to 15 million people every month.

Credit card companies have played a role. Instead of targeting the financially astute, who pay off their debts, they’ve found that they can make money off the young and vulnerable…..

Congress and the White House have played a role. The nation’s leaders have always had an incentive to shove costs for current promises onto the backs of future generations. It’s only now become respectable to do so.

A timely reminder that issues involving the indebtedness and financial health of the American taxpayer cut across political boundaries. Consider reading the whole thing.

As the mortgage meltdown continues to melt, it’s not terribly surprising that we’ve started to see the credit industry point the finger of blame at borrowers who took on loans they haven’t been able to pay back. As a recent trio of stories on public radio makes clear, however, the lion’s share of the blame should go to the lenders, investment banks, and brokers who devised and sold the financial instruments that turned the U.S. real estate market into something akin to a pyramid scheme.

On the April 3 edition of Fresh Air, University of Maryland law professor Michael Greenberger gave a clear and concise explanation of the causes and impacts of the mortgage and credit crisis that should be required listening for anyone who wants to understand how we got here and where we’re going. Listen here.

On May 9, Chicago Public Radio’s This American Life aired “The Giant Pool of Money,” a joint production with NPR News that explored the boardrooms and boiler rooms where these new, risky financial instruments were dreamed up and implemented. Listen here, or listen to the companion story on the May 9 All Things Considered here.

For a revealing look at who’s really to blame, read or listen to this story from the May 27 Morning Edition, about the lengths to which lenders and brokers have been willing to go to put people into loans they couldn’t afford:

A bankruptcy examiner in the case of the collapsed subprime lender New Century recently released a 500-page report, and buried inside it is a pretty interesting detail. According to the report, some investment banks agreed to reject only 2.5 percent of the loans that New Century sent them to package up and sell to investors.

If that’s true, it would be like saying no matter how many bad apples are in the barrel, only a tiny fraction of them will be rejected.

It seems all but certain that the stories that have already come out are just the tip of the iceberg. Stay tuned.