1: Introduction.- 2: The Evolution of Consumer Credit in the United States.- 3: The Growth of Consumer Credit and the Household Debt Service Burden.- 4: Personal Bankruptcies.- 5: Disclosure as a Consumer Protection.- 6: Financial Literacy in the U.S. and Efforts toward Credit Education.- 7: Trends in Equal Access to Credit Products.- 8: The Impact of Credit Scoring and Automated Underwriting on Credit Availability.- 9: Privacy, Consumer Credit, and the Regulation of Personal Information.- 10: Consumer Loan Securitization.- Appendix 1: Contributors’ Biographies.- Appendix 2: Credit Research Center Publications, 1974–1999.