Beware Of Sharks

Charles Geisst is stronger on the history of predatory lending than on the economics.

- Peter Coy

At what point does a lender (good) become a loan shark (bad)? The question has exercised philosophers—and unhappy borrowers—from antiquity to the present. In Loan Sharks: The Birth of Predatory Lending, finance professor Charles Geisst recounts the debate in the US from the late 19th century through the Great Depression. The history illuminates today’s debates over, say, what the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau should do to control payday lenders, though Geisst is shy about drawing conclusions that might be useful to policymakers.