More about the financial industry that profits from the poor
There is a book called Merchants of Misery: How Corporate America Profits from Poverty, published by Common Courage Press
As reviewed by Anitra Freeman:
"Check cashing outlets. Pawn shops. Used car lots advertising "No credit? No problem!" Familiar sights in Seattle, or in any city of any size. Often a welcome sight: when you have a disability check but no checking account, or the check's run out and you need to turn some of your belongings in storage, that you can't use, into money that you can use.
Reading Merchants of Misery gives a different perspective on these services. This book is a collection of articles by national-level journalists for such publications as U.S. News & World Report, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, Barron's, and other major newspapers and magazines...
The articles collected cover the uses and abuses of the "fringe economy" through banking, check cashing outlets, pawn shops, home repair rip-offs, car loans, insurance, low-income rental housing, rent-to-own plans, trade school scams, and - woven through it all - politics.
Businesses that target the "fringe economy" make $200 to $300 billion a year off of the marginalized - the poor, the working-class, and often the minorities - who can't get loans from traditional institutions. And yet, many of the traditional institutions that deny service to the poor - by not placing banks in working-class neighborhoods, by refusing mortgages in minority neighborhoods , etc. - these same institutions own a majority of the businesses that profit from the poor, through the nontraditional market."
Later, this review shares a story from the book about how racism works its way into financial services:
"Joseph Boyce, a black editor at the Wall Street Journal, wrote in 1992 about trying to sell his house in Atlanta. When white appraisers came in, Boyce's family was present. The appraisers set the value of the house at just over $70,000. Before a second set of appraisers came in, Boyce removed all his family photos and had his secretary and her son, who are white, be there instead of his own family. The second time around, the house appraised $12,500 higher."
There is a book called Merchants of Misery: How Corporate America Profits from Poverty, published by Common Courage Press
As reviewed by Anitra Freeman:
"Check cashing outlets. Pawn shops. Used car lots advertising "No credit? No problem!" Familiar sights in Seattle, or in any city of any size. Often a welcome sight: when you have a disability check but no checking account, or the check's run out and you need to turn some of your belongings in storage, that you can't use, into money that you can use.
Reading Merchants of Misery gives a different perspective on these services. This book is a collection of articles by national-level journalists for such publications as U.S. News & World Report, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, Barron's, and other major newspapers and magazines...
The articles collected cover the uses and abuses of the "fringe economy" through banking, check cashing outlets, pawn shops, home repair rip-offs, car loans, insurance, low-income rental housing, rent-to-own plans, trade school scams, and - woven through it all - politics.
Businesses that target the "fringe economy" make $200 to $300 billion a year off of the marginalized - the poor, the working-class, and often the minorities - who can't get loans from traditional institutions. And yet, many of the traditional institutions that deny service to the poor - by not placing banks in working-class neighborhoods, by refusing mortgages in minority neighborhoods , etc. - these same institutions own a majority of the businesses that profit from the poor, through the nontraditional market."
Later, this review shares a story from the book about how racism works its way into financial services:
"Joseph Boyce, a black editor at the Wall Street Journal, wrote in 1992 about trying to sell his house in Atlanta. When white appraisers came in, Boyce's family was present. The appraisers set the value of the house at just over $70,000. Before a second set of appraisers came in, Boyce removed all his family photos and had his secretary and her son, who are white, be there instead of his own family. The second time around, the house appraised $12,500 higher."
posted by oat collective at 6:09 PM
2 Comments:
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Thank you for getting the word out! The editor, Michael Hudson, would love to hear from anyone doing further research on this.
The full review is posted at Activist Books.
Write On!
-Anitra Freeman
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