Senior, College of Pharmacy
TV-Drama is presently tackling a hot social issue. As the TV-show "The War of the Money" plays out on screen, the loan-market is being flooded with private loan-companies seeking to get a slice of this very lucrative industry.
On TV, on buses, in newspapers, and even in subways we see lots of 'loan-ads' and there doesn't seem to be an end in sight.
There are a couple of reasons for this situation. First of all, financial pressure caused by economic depression has caused many people to turn to unsecured loans as a last resort. In addition, because most of these people have no collateral security they are normally turned away by the banks and credit card companies. The only option left for them is the private-loan company. This has led to a huge increase in the number of loan-based advertising campaigns.
The problem with these advertisements is that they can give people the wrong idea about private loans. To make matters worse, in order to improve their images, the lenders are now casting well-known entertainers in their advertisements.
Young people, who may unconsciously associate with the 'interesting' advertisements, may think that a loan is easy to use and is not a serious matter. Borrowing money from a private loan company is easy and quick and some people are tempted by easy money. Actually, after taking out private loans, there have been many occasions where they have suffered from excessive rates of interests, and even threats of physical violence.
Personally, I believe that the lack of a planned economy is one of the causes of the loan-market's prevalence. First of all, people should make rational plans for using money.
Probably the most important reason why people still fall prey to these loan-sharks is the lack of proper financial regulation by the government. Through loop-holes in the law, immoral people will always try to deceive others. As in the case of the "Sea Story" gambling house, the shortcomings of the law may cause severe damage to the public.
We have to introduce the strongest laws we can, to restrict the tyranny of the private-loan market which, through loose regulation, may be hazardous to the lives of the people and even destroy their lives. We may not be able to restrict the private-loan market completely, but through stronger regulatory laws, we can stop it from taking advantage of the vulnerable in our society. The longer we put it off, the more people will suffer.
