The Card Game

Most people with a basic level of financial nous are aware of the perils of using consumer debt; the interest rate is usually high, there are usually multiple fees, and it's typically used for things that people don't need or things that don't hold any value; it's dumb debt. But when you have companies under pressure to make money the less financially astute become a prime hunting ground for the less than ethical. Where abuses could be made, they were, this documentary addresses the growing anger at the consumer debt peddlers and follows on from The Secret History of the Credit Card. Also see Maxed Out: Hard Times, Easy Credit and the era of Predatory Lenders.

As credit card companies face rising public anger, new regulation from Washington and staggering new rates of default and bankruptcy, FRONTLINE correspondent Lowell Bergman investigates the future of the massive consumer loan industry and its impact on a fragile national economy. In The Card Game, a follow-up to the Secret History of the Credit Card and a joint project with The New York Times, Bergman and the Times talk to industry insiders, lobbyists, politicians and consumer advocates as they square off over attempts to reform the way the industry has done business for decades.

Watch The Card Game on PBS. See more from FRONTLINE.

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Finance Documentaries: http://www.financedocumentaries.com/2011/12/card-game.html