If you were to read only one thing…

NYT – Payday Lending Faces Tough New Restrictions by Consumer Agency 10/5

• “A federal agency on Thursday imposed tough new restrictions on the so-called payday-lending industry, which churns out billions of dollars a year in high-interest loans to working-class and poor Americans.”
• “The rules announced by the agency, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, clamp down on, and could largely eliminate, loans that are currently regulated by states and that critics say prey on the vulnerable by charging usurious fees and interest rates. The lenders argue that they provide financial lifelines to those in desperate need of short-term cash infusions.”
• “The terms of a typical payday loan of $400 require that $460 be repaid two weeks later — the equivalent of an annual interest rate of more than 300%, far higher than what banks and credit cards charge for loans. Because most borrowers cannot repay their debts quickly, the loans are often rolled over, incurring more fees in the process.”
• “Some 12 million people, many of whom lack other access to credit, take out the short-term loans each year, researchers estimate. Payday loans — so called because they are typically used to tide people over until their next paychecks — often entangle borrowers in hard-to-escape spirals of ever-growing debt, according to the consumer bureau.”
• “The new rules limit how often, and how much, customers can borrow. The restrictions, which have been under development for more than three years, are fiercely opposed by those in the industry, who say the rules will force many of the nation’s nearly 18,000 payday lenders out of business.”
• “Until now, payday lending has been regulated by states, with 15 already having made the loans effectively illegal. In more than 30 other states, though, the short-term loan market is thriving. The United States now has more payday loan stores than McDonald’s outlets. They make around $46 billion a year in loans, collecting $7 billion in fees.”
• “The payday-lending rules do not require congressional approval. Congress could overturn the rules using the Congressional Review Act, which gives lawmakers 60 legislative days to nullify new regulations, but political analysts think that Republicans will struggle to get the votes needed to strike down the regulations.”
• “Under the new rules, lenders will be allowed to make a single loan of up to $500 with few restrictions, but only to borrowers with no other outstanding payday loans. For larger or more frequent loans, lenders will have to follow a complex set of underwriting rules intended to ensure that customers have the means to repay what they borrow.”
• “The restrictions would radically alter the short-term lending market. The number of loans made would likely fall at least 55%, according to the consumer agency’s projections.”
• “That would push many small lending operations out of business, lenders say. The $37,000 annual profit generated by the average storefront lender would instead become a $28,000 loss, according to an economic study paid for by an industry trade association.”

Worthy Insights / Opinion Pieces / Advice

Bloomberg Businessweek – Fighting the Toxic Nightmare Next Door – Susan Berfield 9/28

• “A radiation-riddled landfill in St. Louis, Trump’s EPA, and two moms who won’t let it go.”

NYT – Thoughts and Prayers and N.R.A. Funding – David Leonhardt, Ian Prasad Philbrick, and Stuart A. Thompson 10/4

FT – The price of paid news may not stay high – John Gapper 10/3

• “Google could soon bundle information like a cable television company.”

FT – Lloyds and the HBOS time bomb – Jonathan Ford 10/4

• “When Lloyds took over its rival bank in 2009, it also inherited the legacy of massive fraud. Its response? To dismiss the victims and any evidence of wrongdoing.”

Markets / Economy

Bloomberg Businessweek – Springsteen Tickets Hit $10,000, and Wall Street Gets Scalped – Laura J Keller, Eben Novy-Williams, Bob Van Voris, and Katherine Burton 9/25

Health / Medicine

Vox – I was skeptical that the anti-vaccine movement was gaining traction. Not anymore. – Julia Belluz 10/3

• Texas K-12 nonmedical exemptions.

Entertainment

Bloomberg Businessweek – Hollywood Is Scrambling to Replace Chinese Funding – Anousha Sakoui 9/26

• “In the past six months, Hollywood has seen film financing deals worth more than $1 billion unravel as Chinese investors and some hedge funds move away from funding movies.”

China

Bloomberg Businessweek – China Unleashes Its Farmers – Kevin Hamlin, Dexter Roberts, and Pi Xiaoqing 9/26

• “To boost the earnings of China’s 230 million rural households, Beijing is rolling out reforms that allows farmers to profit from their land, even while barring private ownership.”

Europe

FT – Spain courts suspend planned Catalonia parliament session – Michael Stothard 10/5

• “The Spanish courts have ordered the temporary suspension of a special session of Catalonia’s parliament scheduled for next Monday where regional officials were expected to vote on making a unilateral declaration of independence.”
• “While the session may still happen in defiance of the courts, the move highlights how Madrid is doing everything in its power to prevent the region from making formal its promises to break away from Spain following Sunday’s referendum.”
• “If independence is declared on Monday, Spanish prime minster Mariano Rajoy will likely be forced to resort to the so called ‘nuclear option’ of using article 155 of the constitution, which allows them to suspend the region’s autonomy and remove officials from office.”
• “Mr Rajoy has so far been reluctant to use this powerful device, despite pressure by hawkish members of his own party. On Thursday, however, he promised ‘greater evils’ on the Catalan government if they go ahead with declaring independence.”

Japan

WSJ – Daily Shot: Deutsche Bank Bank of Japan Ownership of Japanese ETF Market 10/5