Episode 4.5: Stefanie Ramirez — Payday Loan Industry

“While on paper the number of licensed payday lenders dropped to zero, also on paper, the number of licensed pawnbrokers increased. The number of licensed small loan lenders increased. And surprisingly, the number of second mortgage lenders increased as well. So, this was maybe some cursory evidence that payday lenders were not extracting themselves from the market but maybe finding different avenues to actually continue operation either as a payday loan or in a similar industry like pawn broking.” Meet Stefanie Ramirez (bit.ly/2QXODgi), an assistant professor in the Department of Economics (bit.ly/3drv4Ez ) at the University of Idaho. Payday loan companies offer people quick cash with extremely high interest rates. Some states have enacted various regulations of these businesses in an attempt to protect the clients. Stefanie’s investigations look into how these types of businesses are coping with the new laws. Visit our website go.uidaho.edu/thevandaltheory​. Email us at [email protected]. Learn about Idaho’s premier research university, University of Idaho, at uidaho.edu. More U of I Research: With support of the Legislature, Gov. Brad Little has signed a bill providing the $3 million needed to start the renovation and expansion of U of I’s agricultural research station near Parma. These funds, along with $3 million from industry partners and $1 million from U of I, will expand the research capacity to further address the needs of Idaho’s farmers and the modern facility will help attract more world-class faculty. Read more (bit.ly/3dp4oV7). Fire scientist Luigi Boschetti and his colleagues have developed a web portal that provides county-level fire activity statistics across numerous years. It is the first global fire data portal developed for policy support, so the researchers expect the datasets to be used in national fire assessments and to support wildfire management and risk reduction. Read more (bit.ly/2OcvXIv). As a student in the Idaho WWAMI Medical Education Program, Meagan Boll uses a wheelchair, has limited motion in her arms and performs fine motor skills with a bionic glove. College of Engineering students developed an assistive CPR device for Meagan, with application across a spectrum of users with limited arm strength or other disabilities. Read more (bit.ly/2OdZHVr). Music: “Young Republicans” by Steve Combs (bit.ly/2PsMCpw) via freemusicarchive.org, not modified (bit.ly/2Ju7MQb). “Rolling” by BoxCat Games (bit.ly/39ym3IT) via freemusicarchive.org, not modified (bit.ly/3cK20Jv).