Tag: magic numbers

27
Jan

Magic Numbers Don’t be misled by payday loan statistics.

Magic NumbersDon’t be misled by payday-loan statistics.

This is an interesting article by Thomas Sowell at the National Review.

It’s a good read! Mr. Sowell begins … “Words are not the only things that enable political rhetoric to magically transform reality. Numbers can be used just as creatively — and many voters are even more gullible about statistics than they are about words, apparently because statistics seem more objective.

The latest congressional crusade is to clamp down on small finance companies that provide “payday loans” and check-cashing services in many low-income neighborhoods, where there are few banks.”

He goes on… “A common practice in making small loans of a few hundred dollars for a few weeks is to charge about $15 per hundred dollars lent. Politicians, the media, community activists, and miscellaneous other busybodies are able to transform these numbers into annual percentage charges of several hundred percent, thereby creating moral melodramas and demands that the government “do something” about such “abuses.”

Read the article in its entirety here: National REview.com

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