Moneylenders: Deeply Rooted Evil or Providers of Quick Cash?

Craig McMahon ()
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Craig McMahon: Villanova University

Chapter Chapter 3 in Taming the Fringe, 2021, pp 57-98 from Palgrave Macmillan

Abstract: Abstract This chapter examines moneylending reform in 1900–1927. Bringing down the cost of loans was a top priority followed closely by concerns over advertisements, APR disclosure and whether moneylenders should use the term ‘bank’ in their company names. These issues raised deeper questions of whether parliament should regulate the price of money, how borrowers use information in making their decisions and how to define moneylending as opposed to banking. Fears of legitimizing moneylending and the unintended impact regulation might have on ‘proper’ banking were balanced against a strong desire to rein in loan volumes. While Parliament created a host of modern regulatory tools, its failure to define moneylending and its reliance on the judiciary to rewrite individual loan contracts failed to protect borrowers from high-cost loans.

Keywords: Moneylenders; Payday loans; Usury; Small loans; High-cost credit (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pal:psitcp:978-3-030-70615-9_3

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DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-70615-9_3

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