"The middle-class is too big to fail. We need a bailout."
- Coffee Party on Facebook
Showing posts with label too big to fail. Show all posts
Showing posts with label too big to fail. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
And the "Free Market" Party keeps opposing free markets
The Democrats are often wishy-washy on issues and often beholden to corporate interests, but the Republicans take the blue ribbon on hypocrisy.
The Republicans claim they are for free markets, but an economist's definition of a free market and the Republicans' definition of a free market are polar opposites.
The economist's definition of a free market includes that both buyer and seller should have all the information they need to make a decision.
The Republic's definition is that big corporations should be free to do what they want, including hiding or obfuscating information buyers need to make a decision.
A case in point is the opposition to Elizabeth Warren to head up the Consumer Financial Protection Agency. She is called "controversial", but what is controversial about true free markets in:
“We’re trying to make the price clear, the risk clear, and make it easy to compare products,” Warren said. “If banks can’t build a business model without fooling people about the price, or hiding the risks, or obfuscating the products so nobody can make any direct comparisons, they’ve got a problem.”
This quote is from "Warren tells the controversial truth", Al Lewis, MarketWatch, 2011-04-22.
The Republicans claim they are for free markets, but an economist's definition of a free market and the Republicans' definition of a free market are polar opposites.
The economist's definition of a free market includes that both buyer and seller should have all the information they need to make a decision.
The Republic's definition is that big corporations should be free to do what they want, including hiding or obfuscating information buyers need to make a decision.
A case in point is the opposition to Elizabeth Warren to head up the Consumer Financial Protection Agency. She is called "controversial", but what is controversial about true free markets in:
“We’re trying to make the price clear, the risk clear, and make it easy to compare products,” Warren said. “If banks can’t build a business model without fooling people about the price, or hiding the risks, or obfuscating the products so nobody can make any direct comparisons, they’ve got a problem.”
This quote is from "Warren tells the controversial truth", Al Lewis, MarketWatch, 2011-04-22.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Fight big banks! Use cash!
Banks claim they need to increase the swipe fee on debit cards to maintain their profits. Currently many merchants pay a minimum of about 25 cents each time a customer used a debit card. Many banks want to raise this to over 40 cents.
I talked to one merchant recently, and he said that he also gets charged two percent of each debit card sale. Gosh, what a sweet deal for the banks. In two days time, they have taken the money out of the customer's account and put the money in the merchant's account; all done electronically without human intervention.
If they are charging two percent on other people's money for two days, that means they are earning about 180 percent per year! And they begrudge paying their own customers one percent on savings!
I still use my debit card and credit card for online transactions, but as often as I can I pay cash for bricks and mortar purchases. It means that I have to visit my bank or one of its ATMs more frequently, but I am helping the local economy my keeping more money in the local merchant's pockets. Maybe one of these days I may return to writing checks for purchase larger than the cash I want to carry.
I talked to one merchant recently, and he said that he also gets charged two percent of each debit card sale. Gosh, what a sweet deal for the banks. In two days time, they have taken the money out of the customer's account and put the money in the merchant's account; all done electronically without human intervention.
If they are charging two percent on other people's money for two days, that means they are earning about 180 percent per year! And they begrudge paying their own customers one percent on savings!
I still use my debit card and credit card for online transactions, but as often as I can I pay cash for bricks and mortar purchases. It means that I have to visit my bank or one of its ATMs more frequently, but I am helping the local economy my keeping more money in the local merchant's pockets. Maybe one of these days I may return to writing checks for purchase larger than the cash I want to carry.
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