Our cities are covered with storefronts and ads for payday loans. These are businesses promising a short-term cash advance loan to cover an emergency leading up to your payday. More often than not these types of loans lead to a downward spiral of debt for their disproportionately Black and Latinx customer base, thanks to the exorbitant interest rates they're allowed to charge vulnerable people with minimal access to standard banking models. In this episode, Maurice is joined by Policy Director for the Community Economic Development Association of Michigan (CEDAM) Jessica AcMoody. Both an expert in this type of debt and an activist, Jessica explains the payday lending trap and recent efforts made in Michigan to mitigate its harmful effects.

But some see payday lending as the best short-term solution we presently have for under-banked communities to get access to funds when needed. To discuss this, Maurice is also joined by the William Simon Professor of Economics and Public Policy, Director of Economics at Hillsdale University Gary Wolfram. In 2019, he authored an op-ed for Bridge Magazine titled "I'm an Economist and I Support Payday Loans." Professor Wolfram explains his reasoning and explores alternatives with Maurice in this interview.

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