Shortchanged

"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.

Table of Contents:
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 Telecommunications 7: Fringe Housing 8: Real Estate Speculation and Foreclosure 9: The Fringe Auto Industry 10: The Getting-Out-of-Debt Industry Part III: Looking Forward 11: What Can Be Done to Control the Fringe Economy? Glossary Notes Index About the Author

About the Author :
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.

Review :
“A must-read for anyone who wants to understand the impact of predatory economic practices on the poor and credit-challenged in the United States.” —Jody Williams, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate (1997) “Like such classics as Nickel and Dimed, this book is a wake up call for action to redirect our economy towards fairness and ethics.” —John de Graaf, coauthor of Affluenza: The All-Consuming Epidemic “Shortchanged exposes a side of American economic life that would appall even the most cynical observers. Its incisive analysis offers powerful and somber insights into the underworld of predatory finance capitalism. It is rich in detail, eloquent and steadfast in its commitment to change. It deserves to be widely read.” —James Midgley, Specht Professor and Dean, School of Social Welfare, University of California, Berkeley “If you think you know all about the credit industry and how the poor are getting ripped off, think again. Howard Karger’s masterful new book shows how the poor and middle class are being conned by increasingly clever scams….This book is highly recommended to all those who care about social justice.” —Steven Rose, PhD, Professor of Social Work, George Mason University “Shortchanged charts the perfect economic storm…financial deregulation, predatory companies, and consumer vulnerability… It is required reading for anyone concerned about economic justice in America.” —David Stoesz, Ph.D., Director, policyAmerica