In a national study entitled “Value of Third-Party Debt Collection to the U.S. Economy in 2007: Survey and Analysis” , which was conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers and commissioned by ACA International, it was determined that in 2007 the collection industry was able to return $40 billion in bad debt back to large and small businesses that had previously extended consumer credit. That $40 billion return represented a greater than twenty (20) percent reduction in private-sector bad debt. The study suggested that this return of $40 billion translated to an average savings of $354 per American household, as the reduction in bad debt helped companies keep their margins low and in turn sell there products at a lower price. So there you have it…through the diligence and hard work of its employees the collection industry benefits us all.