Heard the news? It seems that U.S. household debt reached an all-time high in late 2005, topping out at $11 trillion, according to the Federal Reserve.

That’s a pretty astounding number and has prompted pundits everywhere to offer up their recommended “cures” for this “ill” – most of which demonstrate an alarming ignorance of economic understanding. But the one that really caught our attention was the suggestion that credit card companies cut back on the number of offers they send annually through the mail.

Never mind that, by far, the largest portion of household debt is mortgage debt (which amounted to 10.76 percent of personal income in third-quarter 2005, according to the Federal Reserve Board’s Survey of Consumer Finances). Or that sending offers for credit doesn’t compel consumers to instantly max out on their gold cards. Or even that total household net worth is five times higher than total debt.

If it’s really important that fewer Americans take advantage of credit card offers, then here’s the solution: Simply force credit card companies to switch their spending from direct mail to TV advertising.

Placing offers in that far less targeted environment, where a 30-second spot will fall prey to nut-job price levels, fragmented audiences and digital video recorders, those companies will almost certainly see their response numbers drop. And with fewer consumers taking advantage of the offers, if you follow the logic, household debt might drop to more, ah, politically acceptable levels.

So, that solves that issue. What’s next?