. “The consumer-credit industry can dream up any sneaky product it wants and no one polices it for harm.”
Commentary by Jane Bryant Quinn
June 3 (Bloomberg) — Pity the neighborhood loan shark.
The credit-card companies have stolen his customers by taking a softer approach to charging outrageous interest rates. During the subprime lending boom, mortgage banks shouldered into shark territory, too.
Loan sharks are called mobsters. Thieving legitimate lenders are called capitalists — free to impose any terms short of kneecapping on their troubled borrowers. Washington treated capitalist sharks as role models and beloved campaign contributors — that is, until the economy collapsed and debtors (aka voters) emitted a collective scream.
