What a Falling Gold Price Means for Pawn Shops : Planet Money : NPR
William Roman wants to borrow money, but his bank won’t lend him any more. So he’s turning to his local pawn shop.
For Roman, a loan from the pawn shop is a lot easier to get. He doesn’t have to fill out an application. The people at the pawn shop don’t check his credit — all they want is something valuable, something they call sell if Roman doesn’t pay them back.
“I’ve pawned laptops, PlayStations,” says Roman. “If I’m not using it, then I’ll just go and pawn it.”
The main thing Roman pawns is his gold. Gold functions in the pawn-shop world much like houses did in the banking world: It’s a valuable asset people can borrow against.
More: What a Falling Gold Price Means for Pawn Shops : Planet Money : NPR
Yet more reason to laugh at the gold bugs. Hopefully the prices of silver and gold will continue to tumble back to where nice jewelry is practical again.