MoJo blog points to an interesting study out of Cal-State Northridge on the placement of payday lenders. From the abstract: We conclude that there is a strong correlation between the density of payday lending industry and the political power of conservative Christians, suggesting that conservative Christians have become a prime demographic target of payday lenders. These findings are further discussed in light of Biblical injunctions against usury. Of course, it could be that regions flush with conservative Christians are just disproportionately poorer than other parts of the country, and thus, more likely to attract the lenders. But as Stephanie Mencimer writes, what's going on in wealthy-Utah? Peterson's home state of heavily Mormon Utah ranked high on the list of havens for payday lenders. The state claims more payday lending outlets than McDonalds, Burger Kings, Subway sandwich chains, and 7-11s combined, and has failed to pass even modest restrictions on allowable interest rates that exceed 500 percent a year, among the highest in the nation. (One reason may be that the chairman of the Salt Lake City Republican Party, former State Senator James Evans, himself owns several payday-lending outfits.) Pretty pious, ain't it? For more on the nastiness of payday loans, read Hayes' piece from '06.
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Adam Doster, a contributing editor at In These Times, is a Chicago-based freelance writer and former reporter-blogger for Progress Illinois.
