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Debt for Sale - A Social History of the Credit Trap (Paperback, Revised)
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Debt for Sale - A Social History of the Credit Trap (Paperback, Revised)
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Credit and debt appear to be natural, permanent facets of
Americans' lives, but a debt-based economy and debt-financed
lifestyles are actually recent inventions. In 1951 Diners Club
issued a plastic card that enabled patrons to pay for their meals
at select New York City restaurants at the end of each month. Soon
other "charge cards" (as they were then known) offered the
convenience for travelers throughout the United States to pay for
hotels, food, and entertainment on credit. In the 1970s the advent
of computers and the deregulation of banking created an explosion
in credit card use-and consumer debt. With gigantic national banks
and computer systems that allowed variable interest rates, consumer
screening, mass mailings, and methods to discipline slow payers
with penalties and fees, middle-class Americans experienced a sea
change in their lives. Given the enormous profits from issuing
credit, banks and chain stores used aggressive marketing to reach
Americans experiencing such crises as divorce or unemployment, to
help them make ends meet or to persuade them that they could live
beyond their means. After banks exhausted the profits from this
group of people, they moved into the market for college credit
cards and student loans and then into predatory lending (through
check-cashing stores and pawnshops) to the poor. In 2003, Americans
owed nearly $8 trillion in consumer debt, amounting to 130 percent
of their average disposable income. The role of credit and debt in
people's lives is one of the most important social and economic
issues of our age. Brett Williams provides a sobering and frank
investigation of the credit industry and how it came to dominate
the lives of most Americans by propelling the social changes that
are enacted when an economy is based on debt. Williams argues that
credit and debt act to obscure, reproduce, and exacerbate other
inequalities. It is in the best interest of the banks,
corporations, and their shareholders to keep consumer debt at high
levels. By targeting low-income and young people who would not be
eligible for credit in other businesses, these companies are able
quickly to gain a stranglehold on the finances of millions.
Throughout, Williams provides firsthand accounts of how Americans
from all socioeconomic levels use credit. These vignettes
complement the history and technical issues of the credit industry,
including strategies people use to manage debt, how credit
functions in their lives, how they understand their own
indebtedness, and the sometimes tragic impact of massive debt on
people's lives.
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