Links
Wealth gap between whites and blacks widens
Deregulation that led to an increase in high-cost loans is indirectly responsible for the quadrupling of the wealth gap between white and black Americans between 1984 and 2007, according to a study by Brandeis University's Institute on Assets and Social Policy released this week.
Measured in 2007 dollars, the disparity in assets increased $75,000 on average, from $20,000 to $95,000 over the 23-year period. At least one in four black households had no assets.
Such an increase in "negative wealth" among African Americans means they depend more frequently on credit and other forms of high-cost debt, according to the study, but many low-income and minority households are subjected to costly lending products as a result of their burgeoning debt.