Pay day loans. To some, evil incarnate, a sugar trap for the sappy poor. Others recognize that no one is holding a gun to borrower’s heads, and in fact this is a service the overwhelming majority of user’s want and need and use responsibly. A good look at the issue here. A new twist comes from Oregon, where credit unions are responding to the competitive pressur of payday loans by offering short term loans. A great example of competitive pressure leading to new services. Of course, established lending institutions, like credit unions, are the most vociferous critics of pay day loans. Notice how in the Oregonian article this is all for the salvation of the customers. They are not about to admit they have been failing their customers by not offering such loans and the pay day loan outfits are just meeting the demand.