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Here we go! What’s next on the “X is a bank” bingo card? Here’s what you all get wrong about this: if I can’t withdraw, it’s not a bank. Points are just prepai

Here we go! What’s next on the “X is a bank” bingo card? Here’s what you all get wrong about this: if I can’t withdraw, it’s not a bank. Points are just prepaid assets and services that you may or may not be able to ever receive. Bank money does not simply “expire” (it can be used for fees however)

kybernetikos 3y ago
Is that a deliberate reference to twiXter?
- kylebenzle 3y ago
  They are saying, "______ (blank) is a bank", not X, formerly Twitter. Again, X is the dumbest possible name for aything, I will never user it, just call it Twitter if you have to. No one is saying X, the platform formerly know as Twitter, is a bank.
  - xcxcx 3y ago
    [flagged]
    - pif 3y ago
      I think I married her.
      - xcxcx 3y ago
        Let's double check on the We Are Married To The Same Wife Facebook group
  - Mechanical9 3y ago
    Honestly how is it even possible to name a company or a product after a single letter? That shouldn't even be trademarkable.
  - TeMPOraL 3y ago
    It's marketing. The dumber and more obnoxious something is, the better it is, because people talk about it. Just look at your own comment - as much as you dislike the name, it's you who brought up X/Twitter into the conversation, reminding us about the brand at this time and place. The name is working as intended.
- diordiderot 3y ago
  Starbucks is the most famous
  - woleium 3y ago
    And to a lesser extent Apple has been trying
jacknews 3y ago
It's a shorthand way of saying 'industry X has become completely financialiized' ie it makes more money from financial shenanigans than providing the product or service recorded on it's business registration.
- derbOac 3y ago
  > it makes more money from financial shenanigans than providing the product or service recorded on it's business registration This seems to describe a lot of sectors of the economy, unfortunately
  - A_D_E_P_T 3y ago
    FIRE is the largest slice of GDP (~20%), followed by services and government: https://www.statista.com/statistics/248004/percentage-added-to-the-us-gdp-by-industry/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/248004/percentage-added-... Legal services alone are about 3% of GDP. This understates things, perhaps, as it's unclear whether it captures the financialization of non-finance sectors. (e.g. auto leasing, and what the article in the OP describes.) Needless to say, this is historically unusual. And you don't need to go very far back in time to find a period where manufacturing was 25% of GDP and FIRE just 10%.
    - oblio 3y ago
      Real estate has ballooned everywhere and I wonder what the real GDP growth is without it, since it should be a basic service everyone gets and the real value offered in many cases doesn't contribute anything to actual progress.
- AnimalMuppet 3y ago
  It's a clickbait way of saying it. "Just a bank" doesn't fly airplanes. It may own them, but it doesn't fly them. "Just a bank" doesn't sell tickets. Doesn't have a department that finds lost luggage. Etc. But "airlines are financialized now" doesn't capture eyeballs in the same way.
somethingsidont 3y ago
Airlines are more accurately "central banks" than traditional banks — they control the money/point supply directly.
- seanhunter 3y ago
  No they are not central banks. Central banks issue a currency and sovereign debt on behalf of some nation and are generally responsible for the financial regulation, fiscal and monetary policy and financial stability of that sovereign nation. That really is nothing whatsoever to do with what an airline does.
grecy 3y ago
Porsche is a hedge fund. "Porsche yesterday revealed it earned three times as much money from trading derivatives as it did from selling cars" https://foreignpolicy.com/2007/11/14/porsche-makes-more-money-from-options-trading-than-from-cars/ https://foreignpolicy.com/2007/11/14/porsche-makes-more-mone...
- corbezzoli 3y ago
  That statement more accurate than OP’s
- marcusverus 3y ago
  Not really? > Another London-based analyst said: “[Porsche] is a hedge fund investing in just one stock [Volkswagen].”[0] > Because of its heavy reliance on Volkswagen's manufacturing capabilities, Porsche knew it had to increase its control [of Volkswagen] to mitigate the risk of its production being affected. Porsche used debt to start buying Volkswagen shares on the open market. [1] > All of the options-trading Porsche takes part in relates to its stake in VW, which it has built up from scratch over two years. Porsche used the options to hedge against the likelihood of VW’s shares rising after its interest was made public: they did, from about €40 to almost €180. [0] They wanted to buy a chunk of VW. After they started doing so, they hedged against the stock price so that they wouldn't get screwed if the price of VW popped. Then the price of VW popped, and their options paid out big time. That doesn't make them a hedge fund, it just make them competent (and somewhat lucky). [0]https://foreignpolicy.com/2007/11/14/porsche-makes-more-money-from-options-trading-than-from-cars/ https://foreignpolicy.com/2007/11/14/porsche-makes-more-mone... [1]https://dailyinvestor.com/world/10426/incredible-story-of-how-volkswagen-bought-porsche/ https://dailyinvestor.com/world/10426/incredible-story-of-ho...

kybernetikos 3y ago

Is that a deliberate reference to twiXter?

kylebenzle 3y ago
They are saying, "______ (blank) is a bank", not X, formerly Twitter. Again, X is the dumbest possible name for aything, I will never user it, just call it Twitter if you have to. No one is saying X, the platform formerly know as Twitter, is a bank.
- xcxcx 3y ago
  [flagged]
  - pif 3y ago
    I think I married her.
    - xcxcx 3y ago
      Let's double check on the We Are Married To The Same Wife Facebook group
- Mechanical9 3y ago
  Honestly how is it even possible to name a company or a product after a single letter? That shouldn't even be trademarkable.
- TeMPOraL 3y ago
  It's marketing. The dumber and more obnoxious something is, the better it is, because people talk about it. Just look at your own comment - as much as you dislike the name, it's you who brought up X/Twitter into the conversation, reminding us about the brand at this time and place. The name is working as intended.
diordiderot 3y ago
Starbucks is the most famous
- woleium 3y ago
  And to a lesser extent Apple has been trying

jacknews 3y ago

It's a shorthand way of saying 'industry X has become completely financialiized' ie it makes more money from financial shenanigans than providing the product or service recorded on it's business registration.

derbOac 3y ago
> it makes more money from financial shenanigans than providing the product or service recorded on it's business registration This seems to describe a lot of sectors of the economy, unfortunately
- A_D_E_P_T 3y ago
  FIRE is the largest slice of GDP (~20%), followed by services and government: https://www.statista.com/statistics/248004/percentage-added-to-the-us-gdp-by-industry/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/248004/percentage-added-... Legal services alone are about 3% of GDP. This understates things, perhaps, as it's unclear whether it captures the financialization of non-finance sectors. (e.g. auto leasing, and what the article in the OP describes.) Needless to say, this is historically unusual. And you don't need to go very far back in time to find a period where manufacturing was 25% of GDP and FIRE just 10%.
  - oblio 3y ago
    Real estate has ballooned everywhere and I wonder what the real GDP growth is without it, since it should be a basic service everyone gets and the real value offered in many cases doesn't contribute anything to actual progress.
AnimalMuppet 3y ago
It's a clickbait way of saying it. "Just a bank" doesn't fly airplanes. It may own them, but it doesn't fly them. "Just a bank" doesn't sell tickets. Doesn't have a department that finds lost luggage. Etc. But "airlines are financialized now" doesn't capture eyeballs in the same way.

somethingsidont 3y ago

Airlines are more accurately "central banks" than traditional banks — they control the money/point supply directly.

seanhunter 3y ago
No they are not central banks. Central banks issue a currency and sovereign debt on behalf of some nation and are generally responsible for the financial regulation, fiscal and monetary policy and financial stability of that sovereign nation. That really is nothing whatsoever to do with what an airline does.

grecy 3y ago

Porsche is a hedge fund. "Porsche yesterday revealed it earned three times as much money from trading derivatives as it did from selling cars" https://foreignpolicy.com/2007/11/14/porsche-makes-more-money-from-options-trading-than-from-cars/ https://foreignpolicy.com/2007/11/14/porsche-makes-more-mone...

corbezzoli 3y ago
That statement more accurate than OP’s
marcusverus 3y ago
Not really? > Another London-based analyst said: “[Porsche] is a hedge fund investing in just one stock [Volkswagen].”[0] > Because of its heavy reliance on Volkswagen's manufacturing capabilities, Porsche knew it had to increase its control [of Volkswagen] to mitigate the risk of its production being affected. Porsche used debt to start buying Volkswagen shares on the open market. [1] > All of the options-trading Porsche takes part in relates to its stake in VW, which it has built up from scratch over two years. Porsche used the options to hedge against the likelihood of VW’s shares rising after its interest was made public: they did, from about €40 to almost €180. [0] They wanted to buy a chunk of VW. After they started doing so, they hedged against the stock price so that they wouldn't get screwed if the price of VW popped. Then the price of VW popped, and their options paid out big time. That doesn't make them a hedge fund, it just make them competent (and somewhat lucky). [0]https://foreignpolicy.com/2007/11/14/porsche-makes-more-money-from-options-trading-than-from-cars/ https://foreignpolicy.com/2007/11/14/porsche-makes-more-mone... [1]https://dailyinvestor.com/world/10426/incredible-story-of-how-volkswagen-bought-porsche/ https://dailyinvestor.com/world/10426/incredible-story-of-ho...