Shortchanged - Life and Debt in the Fringe Economy

Informationen zum Autor Howard Karger is a professor of social policy at the Graduate School of Social Work, University of Houston. He is a two-time Fulbright Scholar and has written nine books and more than 80 articles or book chapters in various national and international journals. His articles have also appeared in The Washington Monthly, The Jerusalem Report, Tikkun, and Ram- parts. Howard and his wife, Anna, live in Houston, Texas. Klappentext Shortchanged exposes how America's "fringe economy"-the booming industry of check cashers, payday lenders, pawnshops, and so on-that prey on the poor and middle class. .The first book to chronicle how the fringe economy ruthlessly and systematically exploits the poor and middle classes .The number of people affected by the fringe economy is enormous-it's not just poor immigrants, but working and middle class families who are affected .Author provides both the hard facts and personal stories-has scores of shocking real-life examples Shortchanged takes a hard look at the corporate vultures that prey on America's poor and middle classes. This "fringe economy"-made up of pawnshops, payday lenders, check cashers, credit card companies and the like-entices vulnerable consumers into an economic netherworld of high interest rates and ever-increasing debt. Powerful analysis is combined with moving personal stories of the mothers, fathers, and families whose lives have been put on the line for the perpetuation of this economy. Ruthless, compelling, outrageous, and often enraging, Shortchanged puts the spotlight on the shady side of America's economic underbelly. Zusammenfassung “An eye-opening read in the school of Barbara Ehrenreich’s Nickel & Dimed . . . shines a bright light on the economy’s darker side.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)   Drive through a low-income neighborhood and you’re likely to see streets lined with pawnshops, check cashers, rent-to-own stores, payday and tax refund lenders, auto title pawns, and buy-here-pay-here used car lots. We’re awash in “alternative financial services” directed at the poor and those with credit problems. Howard Karger describes this world as an economic Wild West, where just about any financial scheme that’s not patently illegal is tolerated.    Taking a hard look at this fringe economy, Karger shows that what seem to be small, independent storefront operations are actually part of a fully-formed parallel economy dominated by a handful of well-financed corporations, subject to little or no oversight, with increasingly strong ties to mainstream financial institutions. It is a hidden world, Karger writes, where a customer’s economic fate is sealed with a handshake, a smile, and a stack of fine print documents that would befuddle many attorneys.    Filled with heartbreaking stories of real people trapped in perpetual debt, Shortchanged exposes the deceptive practices that allow these businesses to prey on people when they are most vulnerable. Karger reveals the many ways this industry has run amok, ruining countless people’s lives, and shows that it’s not just the poor but, more and more, maxed-out middle class consumers who fall prey to these devious schemes. Balancing compassion with a realistic awareness of the risks any business faces in working with an economically distressed clientele, Karger details hard-headed, practical recommendations for reforming this predatory industry. Inhaltsverzeichnis Preface Acknowledgments Part I: Overview of the Fringe Economy 1: America’s Changing Fringe Economy 2: Why the Fringe Economy Is Growing 3: Debt and the Functionally Poor Middle Class Part II: The Fringe Sectors 4: The Credit Card Industry 5: Storefront Loans: Pawnshops, Payday Loans, and Tax Refund Lenders 6: Alternative Services: Check-Cashers, the Rent-to-Own Industry, and...

Product details

• Authors: Howard Karger
• Publisher: Berrett Koehler Publishers
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 11.09.2005
• EAN: 9781576753361
• ISBN: 978-1-57675-336-1
• No. of pages: 272
• Dimensions: 164 mm x 243 mm x 22 mm
• Subject: Social sciences, law, business > Political science > Political science and political education