For the first time, the American household debt level has passed $17 trillion. The record high comes amid an increasingly unstable economic picture for the country. The major areas where Americans have debt are mortgages, auto loans, student loans, retail cards and home equity lines of credit.

Roben Farzad, host of public radio’s “Full Disclosure,” joins Here & Now‘s Robin Young to unpack the numbers and discuss what’s behind surging household debt.

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.

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