What can we learn about the health of the economy from the terms offered by the market's best credit cards?

Having taught personal finance for many years to college students and community members, I can tell you that most people don't care as much about the health of the economy as they care about their own financial health.

Trying to avoid being too technical, and sticking to what most people care about, I will say that it's a good thing for the economy for people to spend money and invest money. Indeed, when interest rates are lower, people are more tempted to put themselves into financial bondage through debt contracts (e.g., credit card agreements, borrowing money in general) in order to live a lifestyle that they cannot presently afford (or in order to take advantage of the "rewards" offered by credit card companies). Of course, the fact that most people borrow money to spend is a good thing for the banks and the economy as businesses thrive due to people spending more money. However, my experience shows that most people hate the feeling and personal implications associated with owing money, and most people would rather not owe any money to financial institutions.

If everyone stopped borrowing money today, the economy would crash. If you stopped borrow money today, your future self (who has to pay it back) would likely be very grateful for the future freedom from payments.

In case you missed the bondage message, here is a quick summary. The moment that you use someone else's money (i.e., the bank's), you are indebted to them and have a legal agreement to pay them back in the future. Indebtedness is synonymous with bondage because the legal contract ensures that once you are in debt to your creditor, the creditor legally and literally owns your future money until they are paid back (sometimes with interest). How does the average person make money to pay their creditor back? They use their time and energy to work. In other words, your creditor owns your future time and energy. Most people consider their time and energy to be what makes them alive. To put it even more plainly, your creditor owns a portion of your life! Yes, that's called bondage.

I'd rather have my freedom, control over my own future time, energy, and resources. Freedom is the most desired and important principle in the universe. An individual that loses sight of the value and importance of personal freedom is already in bondage.

What percentage of people would you say have the best credit cards for their needs?

In my opinion, some more effective questions might be:

"What percentage of people would you say have seriously pondered the principle of personal freedom and the implications of financial bondage?"
"What percentage of people can effectively tell the difference between their needs and their wants?"
"What percentage of people have seriously studied their options for meeting their financial needs and have made (and are following) the most effective long-term strategy to meet those financial needs?"

In my professional opinion, you might as well ask, "What percentage of people have the best hole in their tire?" or "What percentage of people have the best leak in their roof?" This principle-based finance paradigm is rare amongst finance professors, but to answer your question, I'd confidently say somewhere around zero percent.

What tips do you have for someone trying to find the best credit card for their needs?

Take a longer-term perspective and practice delayed gratification.
Learn to say no to yourself sometimes for the sake of a better financial future.
Make all of your financial decision while thinking about essential principles in your life (e.g., your freedom, your peace, your character).
Explore all of your financial options, including patience, discipline, planning, saving for all purchases, and prioritizing.
Ask a few wealthy people how they became rich and how they feel about using credit cards. (Warning: people who look rich are often not wealthy at all).
Don't ask the salesperson what you should buy (i.e., don't ask financial institutions if you should use their products).
Ask yourself how your future self will likely feel about the bank owning your future money.
Make a list of everything that you need to survive (these are your real needs). Pay for these things first with money that you earn.
Make a list of the things that you don't need to survive but that you want. Prioritize them and pay for these with money that you earn.
If you don't have any money, go to work, not shopping for credit cards.
If you need more money, work more hours, or work more effectively. Time spent finding a better job is more effective than time spent shopping for a credit card.
If you believe that credit cards will solve your problem of not having enough money when you want or need money, then you have a planning problem that is manifesting itself as a money problem. Make an income statement (a spending plan) and a balance sheet. These are the incredibly simple tools that almost all rich people use.
If you are looking for a credit card to build your credit score (bondage score), then please consider the fact that you don't actually need a credit score (I can hear the gasps!), but a bondage score does make it more convenient for you to get yourself into more future financial bondage (debt). I wish I had more space to answer all of your questions and resolve all of your concerns regarding the deception of credit scores, but this is where you can do a lot of research on your own.
If you are looking for a credit score for the "rewards," then please consider the reasons from the bank's perspective why they are offering "rewards" and how you feel about their agenda. Also, please consider that the amount of time, energy and money that it takes to shop for credit card options, manage and reconcile accounts, and meet your terms of the debt agreement might be less effective in helping you get what you want (i.e., some cashback, sky miles, etc.) than it would be for you to simply work some more hours in your job and avoid the drama and bondage associated with having a relationship with a creditor.
If you still want a credit card after carefully considering and researching everything that I just said, then I recommend spending a lot of time studying principle-based personal finance books before you move forward (e.g., The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey, Everyday Millionaires by Chris Hogan).
If you still want a credit card after that, then spend a lot of time shopping online, comparing rates and terms, and then hope/pray that your life goes as smoothly as you envision and that your future self will be grateful for a relationship with creditors.

How much is a market-leading credit card offer worth to a bank or credit union?

From a consumer (individual or family) perspective, nobody seems to care how much the banks and credit unions are making. They may complain about it, but most continue to make them money. A better question would be, "how can I be more effective in accumulating personal wealth (like the banks are doing)?"

For starters, successful banks and credit unions focus on earning interest and building wealth, not spending all of the money that they have. If we also want to be successful in accumulating wealth, then we need to shift our focus to a longer-term perspective of using our money to earn interest and build wealth.

Can you see a bank getting a credit card from another bank and paying them 10-25% interest? The principle of getting ahead is the same for banks as it is for individuals and families - focus on earning interest, not paying it!

True, it's challenging to shift your mentality from a lifestyle of financial bondage to financial freedom. However, your future self will either be grateful that you developed a long-term successful financial perspective that enabled your future self to have financial freedom, peace, and wealth, or you will regret that the bank owns a portion of your life.

I can hear someone cursing right now, saying that "you can build wealth and use credit cards at the same time!" That's true, but that seems to be as effective as keeping your bike tire inflated while ignoring the blasted hole in the tube! At what point do you study and ponder more effective strategies to the financial peace and prosperity you desire? Do what rich people (and banks) do - focus on keeping your own money and then making your money work for you.

What would you say to someone who thinks the best credit card is no credit card at all?

If you think that the best credit card is no credit card, I would say," YES!!!! YOU ARE FINALLY UNDERSTANDING PRINCIPLES OF FINANCIAL SUCCESS!!!" It may not be the most popular perspective in our day of dependence, but my answer is bursting with unpopular wisdom.

In meeting with my professor colleagues, I often gag as I listen to them regurgitate the same old ineffective information that seems to have been written by the banks.

They say, "Take advantage of the banks by earning the cashback and rewards that they have to offer, but pay off your balance every month to avoid paying interest!" Their voice of wisdom tells you to "avoid debt," but their voice of bondage tells you to "build your credit" and to "use your credit card for all of your monthly expenses, paying it off immediately." Is the voice of wisdom and the voice of bondage functionally compatible? Nope. It's like wisely teaching your child to avoid smoking, but then telling them to carry cigarettes around in their wallet with them and smoke them every once in a while so that they can take advantage of the short-term "benefits" that smokers enjoy, and then telling them to quickly exercise afterward to negate the effect it had on their lungs. So what do we have now? A generation of people who strongly believe that life without credit cards is impossible or undesirable. A generation of people who spend more money than they otherwise would. A generation of people who work for the banks. It's an incredible belief system that looks an awful lot like a vain religion or an addiction.

Like most people, I've been in debt before. I too know what it feels like for a bank to own a portion of my life and future. It was sickening. Since paying it all back, I enjoy the peace that comes from not worrying about failing to make timely payments or what emergencies might arise that might make bondage payments difficult or impossible. Whatever they offer in return for using their credit card is not going to make a snap of the finger's difference to your future long-term freedom and wealth, but believing that you can't live without credit cards might keep you from ever becoming wealthy or enjoying full control over your own life.

I don't believe that using credit cards is immoral or wrong, and I don't have any problem with people who choose to use them. Most of my friends and family use them, and they're good people whom I love dearly. My experience shows that when people ponder on the financial, mental/emotional consequences, and the reduction of freedom credit cards and other loans provide, that many of them choose to live a debt-free/bondage-free lifestyle for the freedom and peace the lifestyle allows.

In my many years of teaching, writing, discussing, and pondering on the topic of credit cards and the principle of freedom, I firmly believe that a debt-free lifestyle and all that that entails is the most genuinely desirable option for most people.

What is often the result of owning your own time and resources? Freedom and wealth.