The small molded piece of polyvinyl chloride known as the credit card has transformed the American and the world economy and promises to be at the heart of the future economic system of the world. Social scientists have long recognized that the things people buy profoundly affect the way they live. Microwave ovens, refrigerators, air conditioners, televisions, computers, the birth control pill, antibiotics—all have affected peoples' lives in profound ways. The credit card has changed peoples' lives as well, for it allows unprecedented access to a world of goods. The emergence of credit cards as a dominant mode of economic transaction has changed the way people live, the way they do things, the way they think, their sense of well being, and their values. When credit cards entered American life, ordinary people could only dream of an affluent life style. Credit cards changed all that...