ABSTRACT
The global financial crisis and the meltdown of the subprime lending sector have left greater numbers of the poor without mainstream credit and hence more vulnerable to the predations of a wide range of fringe economic services, including pawnshops, payday lenders, dodgy used car lots, and check-cashers, to name a few. The predatory lending industry has grown due to a lack of regulation, the free movement of capital across political borders, and the internationalization of the industry. The limitation of this chapter only permits an examination of a few large sectors of the fringe economy.
