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Listen to this 'Talk of the Nation' topic

Every day I open my mailbox, as many as half a dozen credit card offers pour out, filled with offers of airline miles, vacations, university t-shirts, and, most of all, free money. If you're like my dad, you painstakingly cut identifying codes off all the correspondence, then stuff it all into the postage-paid envelope and send it right back to the credit card company (yes, he's retired). I just rip the things up as best I can and look forward to doing it all again tomorrow. Whether you see copious credit offers as a prank opportunity, a major annoyance, or even a temptation, University of Georgia professor Stephen Mihm sees them as much more: one of the critical building blocks of this fine nation. And, because of this history of credit-driven capitalism, he's not too worried about today's shaky market.