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In exchange for Bailout Funding, the TARP should require banks that issue credit cards, whether in their names or others, to limit interest rates and fees. No
by mynameishere 18y ago
In exchange for Bailout Funding, the TARP should require banks that issue credit cards, whether in their names or others, to limit interest rates and fees.
No clue. None. The guy is obviously a competent technologist and basketball fan, but manipulating prices causes shortages, surpluses, black markets, and suffering.
If you force a bank to charge prime rates to Bill and Mary Ne'er-do-well, then the banks will simply drop the credit lines. Result: The underground market takes over, and Bill and Mary get their loans from (at best) a grey market "paycheck advance" outfit, pawnshops, or (eventually) the mob.
- jimbokun 18y ago"Bill and Mary get their loans from (at best) a grey market "paycheck advance" outfit, pawnshops, or (eventually) the mob" Or maybe Bill and Mary finally realize they don't really need a lot of the crap they have been going in to debt to pay for? Maybe too much to hope for.
- tertius 18y agoDefinitely too much to hope for, Bill and Mary have friends who "need" to be better than Bill and Mary. If Bill and Mary don't want more credit, their neighbours Mark and Kathy will get more credit.
- krschultz 18y agoHis economic "theories" are half baked at best. Seriously, the amount of unintended consequences of his proposals are absurd. This must be the 4th article from him on Hacker News on economics, none made sense. STOP UPMODDING THEM. This is Hacker News not Things That Random Hackers Might Have Said That May Or May Not Be In Any Way Intelligent.
- davidw 18y agoMuch as I find it interesting, I would rather avoid economics altogether, as it often ends up being a clash between people who fervently believe in "Austrian" economics, and people who are more inclined towards mainstream economics of various stripes. This almost inevitably leads to lots of heat and little light.
- netcan 18y agoYour right. Some bits (like the last article) of Cubans economics might be interesting trains of though to follow. But this is pretty dumb. It's either ignoring the very basic of economics (if you make vendors charge less for something then it costs them, they stop making it) or it failing to see that credit is just another thing you make & sell.
- rsheridan6 18y ago>If you force a bank to charge prime rates to Bill and Mary Ne'er-do-well, then the banks will simply drop the credit lines. Why not? They'll just be bailed out by the taxpayer when the Ne'er-do-wells default.