The Payday
Empire
Profit, Power, and Politics of Exploitation
Drawing on research in finance, public policy, and political history, The Payday Empire exposes how predatory lenders built a business model that traps working families in cycles of debt — while generating massive returns for private equity firms, hedge funds, and their political allies.
Kason Kendall
National Board Certified Teacher · Founder, History Education Foundation
Available now on Amazon — see the listing
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
Triple-digit interest rates
A flat fee on a two-week loan works out to an annual rate in the triple digits. The book shows the math line by line.
Refinancing traps
Why rolling a loan into a new one is built into the business model — not an accident, and not the borrower's fault.
Tribal-lending loopholes
How some lenders use tribal sovereignty to sidestep the state rate caps that apply to everyone else.
Rent-a-bank schemes
How a national bank's charter lets a non-bank lender charge rates state law would never allow.
Who it pays
Massive returns for private equity firms, hedge funds, and the political allies who protect them.
Why reform keeps stalling
Aggressive lobbying campaigns designed to block basic consumer protections — and the Citizens United-era politics behind them.
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