TABLE OF CONTENTS

Part One: Overview of the Fringe Economy

Chapter 1: America's Changing Fringe Economy

Chapter 2: Why is the Fringe Economy Growing? Debt and the Functionally Poor Middle Class

Part Two: The Fringe Sectors

Chapter 3: The Credit Card Industry

Chapter 4: Storefront Loans: Pawnshops, Payday, and Tax Refund Lenders

Chapter 5: The Alternative Services Sector: Check-Cashers, the Rent-to-Own Industry and Telecommunications

Chapter 6: The Fringe Housing Sector

Chapter 7: Real Estate Speculation and Foreclosure

Chapter 8: The Fringe Auto Industry

Chapter 9: The "Getting Out of Debt" Industry

Chapter 10: What Can Be Done to Control the Fringe Economy?