US consumer debt hits record levels - 2004-01-15
US consumer debt has hit staggering levels after more than doubling over the past 10 years. This figure, representing credit card and car loan debt, but excluding mortgages, translates into approximately $18,700 per US household.

Outstanding consumer credit, including mortgage and other debt, reached $9.3 trillion in April 2003, representing an increase from $7 trillion in January 2000.
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New home construction explodes - 2004-01-15
There are more expensive houses are being developed in Columbia and Boone County, and government officials say the numbers will likely continue to grow.

"Many people chose real estate as a way of making an investment" in the early 2000s, said Daryl Hobbs, director of the office of Social and Economic Data Analysis at the University of Missouri-Columbia. "Because the stock market declined and mortgage rates were low, there was a significant boom in construction all over the country."
Read the full story at Columbia Daily Tribune