“The refinancing game is nearly over. Just looking at the mortgage side of life, this means that the increase of households’ retained cash flow is unlikely to improve further. For many of the large lenders, it also means a reduction in workforce—a significant one, in many cases—which will impact employment figures and possibly further recovery. A final note in this saga pertains to household leverage. Common wisdom seems to hold that US households have deleveraged since the mid-2000s crash. Unfortunately, that’s not the case. In 2008, total household liabilities stood around $14.2 trillion. At the end of 2013, they were $13.8 trillion—a paltry 2.8% decline.”
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