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    Back to To the Point

    To the Point

    Predatory Lending and Shrinking Buying Power

    There may be fewer paper towels in the package than there used to be, but you're still paying the same price. The same is true for dog food and trash bags. "Hidden inflation" in supermarkets is just one sign of how consumers are affected by a troubled economy, even though they don't notice.

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    By Warren Olney • May 12, 2014 • 1 min read

    There may be fewer paper towels in the package than there used to be, but you're still paying the same price. The same is true for dog food and trash bags. "Hidden inflation" in supermarkets is just one sign of how consumers are affected by a troubled economy, even though they don't notice. Bear-Stearns brokerage house was bought up before it collapsed, as was the sub-prime lender Countrywide. Now the Congress and President Bush are protecting Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The next bubble to burst may be in the credit-card market. What's next for low-income retirees, recent college graduates and first-time home buyers? If you've got some money, is this the time to invest?

    The full episode

    2 of 3
    Economic Decline in a Culture of Credit
    1. 1:37Obama Speaks in Berlin
    2. 7:38Predatory Lending and Shrinking Buying PowerYou’re reading this
    3. 42:16Tugboat Slams into Barge, Spews Diesel into Mississippi
    • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

      Warren Olney

      former KCRW broadcaster

    • KCRW placeholder

      Katie Cooper

      Producer, 'One year Later'

    • KCRW placeholder

      Dan Konecky

      Producer, To the Point

    • KCRW placeholder

      Linda Stern

      Contributing Editor, Newsweek

    • KCRW placeholder

      Robert Manning

      Rochester Institute of Technology

    • KCRW placeholder

      Robert Hobbs

      Deputy Director, National Consumer Law Center

      NewsNationalPolitics

    The full episode

    2 of 3
    Economic Decline in a Culture of Credit
    1. 1:37Obama Speaks in Berlin
    2. 7:38Predatory Lending and Shrinking Buying PowerYou’re reading this
    3. 42:16Tugboat Slams into Barge, Spews Diesel into Mississippi
    Back to To the Point