Payday lenders are just filling a demand

Consumer groups and fanatical religious groups have made payday lenders look like the bad guy in a movie. I’m going to clue people into something. It’s capitalism. Payday lenders are filling a demand that no one else wants to fill.

Banks and credit unions are getting into the mix, but only because payday lenders created the industry, first.

The 20th Century pretty much saw an end to illeteracy in the United States. Today, we focus on financial literacy. Consumer groups and others are a huge detriment to financial literacy. They keep people poor by not allowing them to make decisions and then learn from those decisions.

Taking the moral high ground feels good, but it’s not making people any smarter. People need to be able to make basic financial decisions. We all learn this the hard way, whether it’s credit cards, over paying for your home or taking out too many payday loans.

The inspiration for this post comes from a post by Lawrence Myers titled “Usury Law and the Chritian Right.” A Critique. It’s long, but debunks most of the stereotypes people have about payday lending.

by admin

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