loans

December 01, 2016

What happens when the government ‘forgives’ $108 billion in student debt?

To reduce the number of people defaulting on student loans, President Obama has been promoting income-driven repayment plans. The most widely available income-driven repayment plan for federal student loans—the Income-Based Repayment (IBR) plan—provides payment caps based on a borrower’s family size and income (150 percent of the poverty level). Continue Reading...

March 08, 2016

Alabama Church Pays Off Payday Loans

About twenty years ago I made some terrible choices and found myself in a serious financial bind. The amount I needed wasn’t much — about $200 — but without it I wouldn’t have been able to pay my rent. Continue Reading...

June 23, 2015

Jean Marie’s Abundant Harvest

“For as the soil makes the sprout come up and a garden causes seeds to grow, so the Sovereign Lord will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations.” -Isaiah 61:11 Jean Marie owns a restaurant and farm in southern Rwanda. Continue Reading...

February 25, 2015

How Churches Can Protect the Poor Against Predatory Lending

Near the top of the list of things I despise is companies that take advantage of the plight of the poor and desperate. But just above that on my list is something I hate even more: being poor and desperate. Continue Reading...

December 08, 2014

Did the Catholic Church Change Its Doctrine on Usury?

Usury is the practice of making immoral monetary loans intended to unfairly enrich the lender. But what, for Christians, counts as an immoral loan? For much of church history, any interest was considered immoral. Continue Reading...

July 12, 2012

Predatory … borrowers?

Yesterday I blogged about the unintended consequences of the federal government’s mandate that Stafford student loan interest rates would not double as scheduled on July 1. Organizations such as the Jubilee USA Network praised the government’s action as an act of Christian charity towards students who were oppressed and taken advantage of by unscrupulous lenders. Continue Reading...

January 28, 2010

Obama to Small Businesses: I’m from the government, and I’m here to help.

In last night’s State of the Union address, President Obama commented that “even though banks on Wall Street are lending again, they’re mostly lending to bigger companies. Financing remains difficult for small-business owners across the country, even though they’re making a profit.” Continue Reading...

September 17, 2007

Circus Bailouts vs. Market Correction

In college I wrote a paper for a Latin American Politics class titled, Barnum & Bailey Circus bailouts. The paper took the position that another financial bailout of Mexico would be a huge mistake and would not be money well spent. Continue Reading...

October 25, 2006

Micro-Finance: A Way Out of Poverty

In awarding the Peace Prize to Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank, the Nobel Committee has focused the world’s attention on the power of “bottom up” economic development. Jennifer Roback Morse reminds us that “the micro-credit movement has helped many of the poor become less poor, and to lift themselves, their families, and their neighbors out of abject poverty.” Continue Reading...