The Food Chain of Finance

THE TRIUMPH OF CREDIT MARKETINGAND ITS INEVITABLE IMPLICATION, by Jeffrey Webster, Editor, Investment Sense. 'Leaving aside ethical questions, which depend on the reader’s personal sense of justice, the fact is that there are practical limits beyond which consumers simply become incapable of paying. In fact the “Merchants of Misery” may well enjoy a period of fervid growth in the initial phases of the contraction. However at some point social mores will switch from a general acceptance of aggressive debt promotion and massive profit margins earned on the poor to a sense of disgust and a desire to reform. No doubt there will be a new wave of anti-usury laws targeting Second Tier enterprises like rent-to-own, check cashing and pawn shops. No tree grows to the sky. Eventually the three decade promotion of debt to the highest risk groups will backfire, leading to unprecedented losses through exceedingly high rates of default.'"