<rant>

The headline regarding the Amex miss is

"Card giant's results underscore dire state of the U.S. economy, as even some customers with good credit histories fall behind on bills."

Well, duh!  Good credit histories which are represented through good credit scores outline the true problem with this barometer.  A good credit score is nothing more than someone who paid their bills in the past and has the capacity to have a lot of debt going forward (did you know that closing a credit card out can actually HURT your credit score?).  It does not seem to take net worth into consideration.  So someone who has been eeking by all of these years living the proverbial paycheck to paycheck American dream is experiencing their first lesson.  This lesson propagates to Amex's bottom line.

I believe credit scores should be banished or at worst, their significance diminished.  This "people with good credit" line that we'll undoubtedly be hearing more of is misleading.  I have a feeling that this will begin to irritate much like the "people with less than perfect credit" did during the home loan extravaganza.

</rant>