Having to borrow money, using methods such as pay day loans, is a natural part of growing up, it has been suggested.

Will Wilkinson, from the Cato Institute, has been quoted as saying that people need money when they are young because they generally require more funds than they earn.

His comments, reported on marketplace.publicradio.org, come at a time when there is much debate in America about the levels of debt the country has found itself in.

Mr Wilkinson argues that last week's New York Times column by David Brooks, where he calls Americans' reliance on personal debt a sign of "rampant decadence", is not how things should be viewed.

"Saving and borrowing are both transfers from one stage of life to another," he is reported as saying.

It is rational for young adults to borrow money as they should eventually be making more money than they need in their later years, he adds.

The US is not the only country struggling economically at present. The British media has been calling on its government to take action to stop the current situation of rising prices getting any worse.

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