Consumer credit

That doesn't necessarily mean they're taking out more loans, but borrowing could pick up in some categories, such as auto loans.

A turbulent stock market, rising interest rates and the government shutdown didn’t do much to curb borrowing. Americans continued putting more money on their credit cards and taking out more loans for school and autos in December. Consumer credit grew 5 percent, up $17 billion, according to the latest monthly report from the Federal Reserve. […]

The modern credit economy mostly works, author Josh Lauer says.

U.S. banks are lending to customers at the fastest pace in more than 10 years.

Some banks may be lending to consumers who shouldn't be borrowing.

Individuals would still have to go through arbitration.

We're borrowing more, but neither as much as economists had hoped, nor for the kind of thing that will help the economy.