"Daniel K. Berman's publications have spanned a broad range of subject matter and disciplines but always with the goal of making a worthy topic interesting and accessible to readers, with a strong pro-consumer orientation. His work as a credit counselor in the 1980s led to publication in 1988 of his first book on consumer credit, which the American Library Association called ""a thorough and enlightening primer on a subject of interest to most Americans."" In his new series on the U.S. credit system, Dan brings to bear his training as an investigative news reporter and a social science Ph.D., presenting the results of meticulous research in an easy-to-read and entertaining format"