US consumption is driven by credit not wage growth

US consumption is driven by credit not wage growth. The chart attached illustrates where money is flowing during periods of cheap credit. Following the sub-prime mortgage crisis of 2007/2008 understandably regulations around mortgage lending tightened. As you can see from the graph the total number of loans has reduced by about 20% since the peak in 2008. However, with interest rates at record low levels auto lenders have gotten aggressively permissive about lending. The result? US auto sales have made a huge recovery. The surge of auto lending pushed the number of US car loans above the number of US mortgages in early 2013, a turnabout from the status quo over the previous decade. (VIEW LINK)