The Payday
Empire
Profit, Power, and Politics of Exploitation
A five-dollar fee on a three-hundred-dollar loan sounds harmless. It's how working families end up paying far more than the loan was ever worth. This book opens up the payday lending business model — and the state politics that keeps it running.
Kason Kendall
National Board Certified Teacher · Founder, History Education Foundation
How the debt trap works
The
Payday
Empire
Profit, Power, and Politics of Exploitation
Kason Kendall
History Education Foundation
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States that effectively ban payday lending
Most do it with an interest-rate cap around 36% APR — the same ceiling Congress put on loans to active-duty service members.
Utah doesn't set a maximum rate
Utah law only says rates can't be "unconscionable" — a word so vague that it leaves borrowers with almost no protection.
"APR" is where people get lost
Studies show most borrowers don't know what APR means. The book translates the fine print into plain dollars and cents.
What The Payday Empire exposes
The debt trap, in plain English
Why the business model depends on borrowers who can't pay the loan back on time — and what that means for a family budget.
The real cost of a "small fee"
How a flat fee becomes a triple-digit interest rate, worked out line by line so anyone can follow the math.
The Utah loophole
How a state that prides itself on family values ended up with some of the loosest lending rules in the country.
Who writes the rules
The lobbying, the campaign contributions, and the lawmakers who vote on the lending laws in their own state.
Contracts built to confuse
Dense agreements written so that even strong readers miss the actual price of the loan.
What real reform looks like
The states that capped rates or required installment payments — and what happened to borrowers afterward.
Written for the classroom — and for anyone who's ever needed a loan
Kason Kendall is a National Board Certified Teacher. He wrote this book the way he teaches: real cases, real numbers, and a clear look at who holds the power. It works as a unit, a single class period, or a book-club read.
Financial literacy & economics teachers
A ready-made case study on interest, fees, and consumer protection.
High school & college students
Shows how money and lobbying shape the laws that govern everyday life.
Adult civic literacy classes
Plain-language reading for adults who want to understand the system they're living in.
Community and faith groups
A concrete starting point for conversations about debt in your own town.
"The lending laws in Utah are a direct result of the state legislature. When parents get trapped in rising debt, the cost doesn't stay with them — it lands on everyone."
— from Kason Kendall's published research on payday lending
Read the free research behind the book at the History Education Foundation:
Free civics & financial literacy resources →Get the classroom discussion guide
Eight questions that turn the book into a real conversation — about interest, fine print, who writes the rules, and what a fair loan would actually look like. Free for teachers.
Prefer to just start reading? Buy the book on Amazon →
Kason Kendall
Kason Kendall is a National Board Certified Teacher in Utah and the founder of the History Education Foundation, a nonpartisan nonprofit built to strengthen civic and media literacy. He writes about the ways money and power shape the rules ordinary families live under.
His work — lesson plans, primary sources, documentary interviews, and a digital library — is used free of charge by teachers across the country.
Questions
Is this book political?
Do I need an economics background?
Can I use it with high school students?
How long is it?
Is there a free version of the teaching materials?
Is the book available in print or just digital?
Understand how the debt trap really works
Read the book, then bring the discussion guide to your classroom, your book club, or your own kitchen table.
History Education Foundation · Nonpartisan civic & media education