Description
Book SynopsisPublisher's Weekly Top 10 Fall Release in Business and Economics?A consumer credit industry insider-turned-outsider explains how banks lure Americans deep into debt, and how to break the cycle. Delinquenttakes readers on a journey from Capital One's headquarters tostreet corners in Detroit, kitchen tables in Sacramento, and otherplaces where debt affects people's everyday lives. Uncovering the true costs of consumer credit to American families in addition to thebenefits, investigative journalist Elena Botellaformerly an industry insider who helped set credit policy at Capital Onereveals the underhanded and often predatory ways that banks induce American borrowers into debt they can't pay back. Combining Botella's insights from the banking industry, quantitative data, and research findings as well as personal stories from interviews with indebted families around the country, Delinquent provides a relatable and humane entry into understanding debt. Botella exposes the ways that ba
Trade Review"An ambitious insider’s critique of the 'debt machine' created by credit card companies and financial culture. . . . Original, passionate fusion of progressive polemic and stark portrait of the labyrinth of contemporary consumer finance." * Kirkus *
Table of ContentsContents
List of Illustrations
Preface
A Note
PART I THE PRINCIPAL ARGUMENT
1. The Time before the Debt Machine
2. How the Machine Was Built
3. The Debtor Class
4. A Broken Net
5. The Quickest Levers
PART II THE INTEREST ARGUMENT
6. Divergent
7. A Fair Deal
PART III THE FUTURE
8. The Last Frontier
9. Transformational Lending
Acknowledgments
Appendix A: About My Research Process
Appendix B: Advice for Consumers
Notes
Index
