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Payday lending——Shark bait
發(fā)薪日貸款：海底大冒險(xiǎn)
The Labour Party launches an attack on payday lenders. It may be too late
工黨向發(fā)薪日貸款人發(fā)難，但這可能為時(shí)已晚。
IN THE real world, shoppers are moving online. But retail politics—selling eye-catching policies to voters—still starts on the high street. On October 17th Ed Miliband, Labour's leader, announced plans to “halt the tide of payday loan firms” into Britain's shopping districts that accelerated following the economic crisis in 2008.
現(xiàn)實(shí)生活中，顧客在網(wǎng)上購(gòu)物。但是零售式競(jìng)選政治—政客當(dāng)面請(qǐng)求公眾以拉票的活動(dòng)—仍然在繁華的商業(yè)大街上進(jìn)行著。10月17日，工黨的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人，艾德·米利班德，宣布“限制”在英國(guó)的商業(yè)中心建立“發(fā)薪日貸款公司”的計(jì)劃。自從2008年經(jīng)濟(jì)危機(jī)以后，發(fā)薪日貸款公司在英國(guó)市中心發(fā)展速度加快。
Payday lenders are an obvious example of what Mr. Miliband considers irresponsible capitalism. As well as making struggling high streets even less attractive, they are accused of stiffing impoverished customers with high interest rates. Nearly a third of payday loans are taken out to cover day-to-day household bills, Labour says. Excessive borrowing is a common cause of poverty, according to the Citizens Advice Bureau, a charity.
米利班德認(rèn)為發(fā)薪日貸款人是不負(fù)責(zé)的資本主義的一個(gè)典型例子。發(fā)薪日貸款人不僅使得繁華的大街的吸引力減弱，而且也受到指控利用高利率詐騙貧窮的顧客。工黨宣稱(chēng)，大約有三分之一的發(fā)薪日貸款用來(lái)支付家庭的日常開(kāi)支。慈善機(jī)構(gòu)公民咨詢(xún)局表明，過(guò)多的貸款是造成貧窮的普遍原因。
Mr. Miliband proposes three prongs of attack. First, a Labour government would push the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to introduce some sort of cap on interest rates or charges. Second, it will increase the levy that lenders currently pay to the FCA and spend it on debt counseling and supporting credit unions (non-profit mutual lenders). Third, councils will be given new powers to prevent shops being turned into payday lenders.
米利班德提出了三條應(yīng)對(duì)策略。首先，工黨政府可督促金融市場(chǎng)行為監(jiān)管局對(duì)利率或費(fèi)用進(jìn)行限制。第二，政府將提高款權(quán)人目前向金融市場(chǎng)行為監(jiān)管局繳納的稅收并將其用于債務(wù)咨詢(xún)，支持信用合作者(非營(yíng)利共同貸款人)。第三，將授予委員會(huì)新的職權(quán)以避免商店成為發(fā)薪日貸款方。
Overall, these suggestions are modest. At present the government spends ￡13m ($21m) per year on encouraging credit unions. Labour wants to double that figure, suggesting the new levy would be fairly light. Any new cap on interest rates is unlikely to be tight. Changing planning laws—not a new idea—would have the most effect, but most high streets have plenty of payday loan shops already. There may be little pressure to open new ones.
總的來(lái)說(shuō)，這些建議都很合理。目前，政府每年支出1300英鎊用于鼓勵(lì)信用合作社發(fā)展。工黨想增加一倍的支出，并認(rèn)為新稅率將會(huì)有所降低。任何利率的新規(guī)定都不會(huì)太嚴(yán)格。改變計(jì)劃法律?—這并非是個(gè)新想法—可能會(huì)獲益匪淺，但是大多數(shù)商業(yè)街已經(jīng)有很多發(fā)薪日貸款店鋪的存在了。開(kāi)辦新的發(fā)薪日貸款店鋪不會(huì)承擔(dān)很多壓力。
Indeed, there are reasons to think that payday lending has peaked. Bank of England figures show that credit-card lending is picking up again after several years of decline. Partly thanks to government prodding, credit unions are trying to lure customers from payday lenders, spending more on advertising and speeding up their application processes. Even the Church of England wants to compete short-term lenders out of business.
確實(shí)，有理由認(rèn)為發(fā)薪日貸款目前正是如日中天的時(shí)候。英格蘭銀行的數(shù)據(jù)顯示信用卡貸款在沉寂了幾年之后現(xiàn)在又開(kāi)始復(fù)蘇。部分由于政府的刺激，信用合作社設(shè)法從發(fā)薪日貸款人那里爭(zhēng)奪顧客，加大了宣傳力度并加快了他們的申請(qǐng)程序。甚至英國(guó)國(guó)教都想競(jìng)爭(zhēng)短期貸款。
That will not put off Mr. Miliband. As he points out, real wages are still falling. And much like those other high-street bugbears, bookmakers and pawnbrokers, payday lenders will not disappear soon. But eventually the tide will go out—and politics will have little to do with it.
這并不會(huì)阻擋米利班德前進(jìn)的腳步。他指出，工資會(huì)持續(xù)下降。和其他商業(yè)大街的頑疾一樣， 出版商、當(dāng)鋪老板、發(fā)薪日貸款人都不會(huì)很快消失在人們的生活中。但最終潮水會(huì)退去—而政治和這關(guān)系不大。
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