The Federal Reserve said last week that Americans’ outstanding debt hit a record level in November. And judging from anecdotal evidence provided by retailers, December probably had a pretty good follow-through.

Revolving credit, which is mostly credit card debt, jumped by $11.2 billion, to $1.023 trillion.

That went past the previous record set in April 2008.

You remember 2008, don’t you? That’s when all the trouble began.