The Dark Side of Payday Lending

This chapter investigates the persistent issues within the payday loan industry, highlighting its impact on vulnerable communities and the ethical dilemmas faced by local religious leaders. Through a journalist's lens, it contrasts the influx of questionable wealth in affluent neighborhoods with the struggles of low-income borrowers caught in a cycle of debt due to predatory lending practices. The chapter also reveals manipulations in academic research that obscure the damaging effects of payday loans, raising serious ethical concerns about corporate influence on regulatory decisions.