For example, our report documents that, in 2003, almost 47 percent of small businesses used personal credit cards in the conduct of their business. Most of this use appears to have been for convenience rather than longerterm borrowing.
Nonetheless, such data suggest that a significant decline in the financial condition of households, should it occur, would be likely to affect economic activity through its influence on small business finances over and above the more traditional effects of such a decline on the aggregate consumption of the household sector.