#312 How the New Middle Class Survives

Before we dive into just how exactly the middle class is surviving these days, we first took an interesting call from Rod in Georgia who was wondering if it made sense for him to pay off his cheap mortgage and instead invest the money.  If you're a regular listener you probably know which way I'm going on this one... Feb 25 JOM Hour One

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I loved our guest in hour two this week...Lisa Servon, author of "The Unbanking of America: How the New Middle Class Survives." First off, let me tell you that I thought this book was fascinating and really well written.  In a nutshell, it's basically about how dysfunctional the mainstream banking system of America has become.  In a time when nearly half of all Americans live paycheck to paycheck, Lisa exposes the broken role of banks, as they’ve quietly abandoned lower and middle class consumers in favor of servicing only the wealthiest.

Feb 25 JOM Hour Two

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Lisa is the real deal.  Not only did she spend months working at a check cashing facility in the South Bronx while writing the book, she's also a professor of City and Regional Planning at the University of Pennsylvania and a former dean of the New School.  Her work on consumer financial services has been published in the Wall Street Journal, the Atlantic online, and The New Yorker online, among many others.

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Thanks to everyone who participated this week, especially Mark, the Best Producer/Music Curator in the World. Here's how to contact us:

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