i am not catholic, nor is my wife, however she works for the Toledo Diocese and they have made her sit through demeaning workshops called “bridges out of poverty” that compare those of us in the payday loan industry to drug dealers and organized crime. no joke!

it’s called “wag the dog”

my church is (in my opinion) doing the right thing by not taking a stance at all, or maybe they are, my minister has simply told me that what people do is their own business.

Go to China, Arthur, you’d probably be happier there.

Yes, with that payday loan I’ll be able to buy me a house.

Once upon a time access to the American Dream also required people to save first and delay gratification. Lenders would only let you borrow money if your credit was good and they assessed your ability to repay.

But then came financial deregulation and saving became old fashioned. So did delayed gratification. We were allowed to buy the American Dream even if our credit was lousy and we couldn’t afford the price. Lenders stopped asking us to document our capacity to repay. They just charged a premium for not asking.

The bubble grew and grew, then it burst. It turns out that we couldn’t defy the laws of gravity forever.

People figured out all over again why almost every society that has ever existed constrains credit transactions. Experience taught those societies that without limits, bubbles form, debt peons multiply, and creditors take advantage of people who are short sighted and desperate.