"The good news is that the payday loan industry appears to be shrinking nationally, as the interest payments in the 33 states that allow these bloodthirsty loans have fallen from $6.8 billion in 2007 to $3.3 billion in 2011, a new study by consumer groups found.
But the bad news is that this industry—whose short-term loans have outrageous interest rates that are disguised as fees—is still sucking billions from poor people. And the ripple effect of payments is depleting hundreds of millions from local economies, undermining job creation and pushing people into bankruptcy"