Artificial credit expansion is where banks make it seem like there is more money then there really is by loaning out the same money to multiple people at the same time through (over simplifying) accounting tricks or literally creating money from nothing. This makes people think that money is cheap. Everybody gets this money and starts buying up things that they didn't need (the luxury you are talking about), but then when it comes time to pay back the bank they find out that getting the money back from society is a LOT harder than getting it from the bank (hence 'artificial'). This is what the individual sees. On the whole the money in a way didn't really exist, and this spending frenzy businesses are trying to make up for ends when the credit card maxes out and we are all standing around with useless investments and no job.
From this perspective, the worst thing a society could do is think that the problem can be solved by printing more money or just making that credit card bigger because each time that happens everything is going to be even worse the second time around when inevitably you hit that wall again because people keep over spending... even if they think the things they are buying are really good, ie. high social value.
The situation now is that people are buying way more than they need. If people just took a chill pill and didn't over extend themselves then we wouldn't be having this problem, however, I think there needs to be an investigation into what is tricking nearly EVERYBODY into a false sense of security in their finances. This is the only place I disagree, I don't think "greed" is necessarily the problem because as the standard of living improves people should, when it is really affordable, improve their lives. I just think that act of "buying things they don't need" is something that is most easily seen in hindsight and much harder to see looking forward.
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