Chapter 2: Hire Purchase^*

Hire purchase has always been a little under suspicion. “Not quite respectable” its critics seem to say. In recent years, it has been under another cloud. It is suspected of the serious crime of aiding and abetting inflation.

An odd thing about hire purchase in Britain is that no one knows how much money actually goes into the business each year. It is pretty certain, though, that the amount has been growing fast in the last few years. We know, for instance, that the number of new motor cars bought in this way is now about three times what it was two years ago. It has been estimated that at least four out of 10 radio and TV sets are sold on hire purchase. A lot of new people have been going into the business, too. This is a pretty sure sign that it is booming.