Are payday loans really “debt culture?”
May 7, 2008 | Institute for American Values, industry critics | Comments (0)With all the excitement surrounding Ohio’s rally supporting the payday loan industry, the Pundit neglected to mention a press release from the Institute for American Values on Monday. Their new campaign is titled “Confronting Debt Culture” and takes aim at what they refer to as “anti-thrift institutions.”
The release (which somehow links payday lending with the lottery – two items with so little in common equating them is laughable) shows that the IAV is missing the point when it comes to payday lending. Perhaps it’s just me, but it would seem that with the average American family paying $1,200 in credit card interest each year, the average college senior in $2,600 of credit card debt, mortgages and car payments… that attacking a $300 loan a working American needs to repair a car or purchase a medication is ridiculous.
I’ve said it before and I’ll probably be saying it again: There is a real need for short-term credit. While IAV’s work to provide low interest loans and expand savings is laudable, eliminating payday loans, a financial option, makes no sense.
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