CENSORED IN 1994: THERE’S A LOT OF MONEY TO BE MADE IN POVERTY
Daily Journal (Opinion), Deja VuOct 18, 2010CENSORED IN 1994:
THERE’S A LOT OF MONEY TO BE MADE IN POVERTY
Want to know what is the hottest new profit center for big blue-chip corporations like ITT, General Motors, American Express, and others? The acceptable term is “fringe banking,” the less acceptable, but more accurate, term is “loan sharking.”
Fringe banks are pawn shops and check cashing outlets–operations that serve low-income people, usually in urban ghettos, who don’t fit into the picture at mainstream banks.
Interest on pawn shop loans typically runs over 200 percent, and check cashers charge two to 10 percent of a check’s value for cashing it. These are just two examples of the ways some large U.S. corporations are profiting from the cycle of poverty, particularly in the South.
This story appeared in the Fall 1993 issue of Southern Exposure. It
