THIS IS PROGRESS?

"Consumers buckling under the strain of higher living costs are returning to the Victorian age in a bid to get their hands on some cash – they are hot-footing it down to their local pawnbroker. And it is not just those on low incomes who are pawning bits of jewellery and small family heirlooms. Some brokers report City whiz kids and professional footballers offering cars or Rolex watches worth tens of thousands of pounds in return for a loan. Business is booming thanks to the clampdown by high street lenders on giving people credit. The National Pawnbrokers Association (NPA) estimates that there has been an increase of up to 30 per cent in business across the UK in the past six months. It says the stigma attached to pawn broking is disappearing because we live in a credit society and this is just another way of borrowing."
(Daily Telegraph, 28 June) RD