Product Description

The book the debt industry doesn't want you to read.
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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #403699 in Books
• Published on: 2007-01-02
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

Toronto Star Toronto Star
On `Maxed Out', the movie:'Powerfully moving. No wonder folks are
cheering.'

From the Back Cover
Iin Maxed Out James Scurlock takes us on a road trip that is sometimes
hysterical and often horrifying - from Las Vegas to London, from bible belt
to inner cities where the world's largest financial giants stalk their
next victims. Welcome to a cutlure populated by debt pirates, corporate
predators, human credit-card billboards, debt evangelists, mega
million-pound flats, and, of course, trillions of pounds of easy credit.
Combining shocking facts with tough examinations of individuals,
institutions, the government, and modern religion, Scurlock separates the
myths - "good debt" and "bad debt" -from harsh reality: corporations
partnering with collegues to target students; credit reports riddled with
errors thatwill never be fixed; and death, for many of those in trouble, as
the only way out. Maxed Out takes readers on a wickedly smart and
entertaining tour of what one interviewee calls "the last taboo".

About the Author
James Scurlock is a young investor-turned filmmaker. An entrepreneur since
his university years, James opened several successful restaurants which he
later sold. He has also contributed as a freelance writer to several
magazines and newspapers. He spent over two years researching and filming a
documentary (also titled MAXED OUT) about the credit industry that
premiered in March at the South by Southwest Festival.

Customer Reviews

A warning for Irish Credit Consumers
In the context of our euphemistically termed "booming economy", it is generally accepted that we are closer to Boston than to Berlin. This being the case, we have grounds for very serious concerns if we accept the underlying tenet of this book where the author, James Scurlock contents that the American public has mistakenly clung to the old assumptions and trusted the State, the financial institutions and the regulatory bodies. When we apply this to ourselves, in particular, we've continued to believe that banks would not extend us credit unless we could handle it. Yet the big banks realised more than a generation ago that they make far more money teaching us to spend than to save. Their core business is to sell debt. The idea that one should stay out of debt is now considered unrealistic. Even more frightening is the notion that debt is our friend, a magical tool that allows us to own nothing but to have everything. This American dream has led countless people into the depths of worry, depression and misery. The sub-title for "Maxed Out" is "The book the debt industry doesn't want you to read". I, for one am glad that I worked my way through it as it succeeded in sounding a loud warning bell for me about what is happening here in Ireland at present with the growth of the sub-prime lenders.
This book of 241 pages is based on a documentary film of the same name which examines the proliferation of debt in America. Scurlock interviewed debt collectors, a Harvard professor, pawnbrokers, people in debt and the people who have watched loved ones struggle with and be destroyed by debt. At first I found the book annoying because although it purports to deal with the situation in the UK it is very clear that it is exclusively based on the situation in the US with points regarding the UK being crudely tackled in the footnotes or in paragraphs which interfere with the flow of the narrative. Initially I found the style of presentation to be irritating as it appeared to me to be a hybrid between entertainment and human interest story, along the approach familiar to us in "Show me the Money". However, as I immersed myself in it I discovered that the author has a deep insight into the whole debt industry and is passionate about effects of this industry on an unsuspecting public. Among the themes which are enlightening is the history of the credit card where Citibank outmanoeuvred Visa, the reform of the bankruptcy laws in the US, the financial industry's view of "regulation", the role of the credit bureau, and the strategies adopted by the debt collectors. A few examples will give you a sense of this. "The most valuable asset of a collection agency is deceit. It's making someone think that they owe YOU (personally) the money". "Bankruptcy is what allows the individual to take risks without threat of imprisonment or utter ruin. It is the bargain struck between society and the individual: If things turn out badly, one will forfeit nearly everything to one's creditors, but then the slate is wiped clean. Bankruptcy is the threshold beneath which we have agreed not to let our fellow citizens wallow"." "The first thing a debt collector looks for is credit cards which have not yet maxed out".

The territory of the effects of debt on people's lives is where I found Scurlock came into his own as he had a compassionate understanding of the human face of debt and the havoc it can bring to peoples lives. This spurns him on to a right's based approach to the problem where he is fairly and squarely on the side of the debtor. He has painted the story of our debt fuelled culture in broad strokes, challenged the assumptions about the way we live our lives and asks "Do we want to be in perpetual debt". It looks to me that what has already happened in the USA is now happening before our very eyes here in Ireland. While accepting the limitations of style and content, the insights of James Scurlock in this book cannot be overlooked by those who are concerned about the issues of credit and debt in contemporary Ireland.

Very interesting, predominantly for US situation
I'm pretty lucky: through a combination of personal ethos and circumstances I've managed to escape the clutches of credit card debt (though once you read this book you'll have learnt that this has probably affected my credit rating negatively). In fact, I have never even had a credit card to pay off.

As a result I am able to look at this ever-burgeoning problem from the outside and find the situation simultaneously fascinating and terrifying, both for those individually caught in "the bear trap", and for the wider society as a whole in which we live.

This book is not so much revelatory as it is all-inclusive: there's nothing shockingly new or unexpected, apart from maybe the scale of the subject matter. It deals with the problem and its perceived causes holistically, backing up points made with deeply personal case studies. The latter are reported with a pinch of journalistic, "how-can-I-translate-real-people-on-screen-into-words-on-a-page" hyperbole (this book accompanies a documentary film made by the author), which can grate at times, but they are effective at driving home the message nonetheless.

The highlight of the book for me was references to the causal relationship between the culture of individual, consumer debt with governmental/national budget deficits due to foreign borrowing (a particularly acute problem both here and across the pond), and the unctuous attempts of politicians to explain how it's not a problem...when actually there is a real danger that it is.

I dropped a star because the narrative is stilted at times, and also because it is very clear that this was written exclusively for the US market and situation, with points regarding the UK being crudely tacked on in footnotes and hastily inserted paragraphs. Nevertheless he still makes the effort, and overall it is an interesting and necessary read.

Should be taught in schools
This book is a real eye opener. Although it was written in America whats happend there is now happening here. A lot of the book referes to the Two Income Trap written by a Professor at Harvered. After eading Maxed Out I gave it to my daughter and ordered Two Income Trap from the States. Banks and Supermarkets have clicked onto the consumer credit trap. Lenders in this Country are sharing information and trapping people into a lifetime of debt. Northern Rock in the Independant this week stated that 50% of mortgage lending is house purchase, and 50% is credit card and other loan consolodation. A MUST READ