Advocates for the poor say one reason for the persistence of poverty is that low-income people often pay more for basic goods and services than middle-class people do... making the poor feel they're running in place. In a series this week, Minnesota Public Radio is examining the high cost of poverty. Economists say a growing number of low-income people who need small loans... are turning to pawnshops... instead of banks and credit cards. The Minnesota legislature passed regulations last year designed to control interest rates... so pawn customers wouldn't have to pay ten or fifteen times the rates charged for credit card loans. But some of the state's pawnshops are using a loophole in the law to charge more than 200-percent. In part two of our series, Minnesota Public Radio's John Biewen reports.