They could buy all the cars and oversized Christmas tree ornaments they wanted, unless they happened to run up an unpayable credit card bill in the process.
The government I lead will not leave the next generation, your children and grandchildren with a debt to settle that we were too weak to pay ourselves.
Many people in the nineteenth century, including members of the respectable middle class, routinely spent time on the King's Bench when unable to pay their debts.
Businessmen could not pay back money they owed the banks. And they could not get loans to keep their businesses open. Many factories closed. Great numbers of people were out of work.