Failed Markets, Failing Government, or Both? Learning from the Unintended Consequences of Utah Consumer Credit Law of Vulnerable Debtors

Abstract

Although for millennia the Western tradition looked upon the taking of interest with a jaundiced eye, consumer credit has become an integral and accepted part of the American economy. Nevertheless, throughout the twentieth century federal and state government institutions have struggled with the dual needs of facilitating creditors' business ventures and simultaneously protecting vulnerable debtors from onerous obligations.