-- Connecting the dots between our economy, government and business --
Summary and audio linked here.
Chicago’s political leadership is floating a pension buyout program as evidence it is seriously addressing the city’s thirty-six-billion-dollar unfunded pension liability, but Mark Glennon, founder of the Illinois policy research organization Wirepoints, said that the proposal moves debt from one column to another rather than reducing it, and that the broader fiscal picture facing the city continues to deteriorate across every measurable dimension. Audio here.
Expect no retraction or apology. This what they do.
The state’s existing buyout program for its own pensions is the precedent for Chicago, which should be a warning: Look out for similar exaggerated claims and shoddy analysis.
Full interview and summary linked here.
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Credit card fraud is a huge problem, and identity theft is an absolute nightmare for anyone it impacts. Durbin cares not one bit about either. The master of giving away free stuff, Durbin doesn’t care about the expense of developing and securely maintaining payment systems, because it’s not his money doing it. These costs will ultimately get passed onto the hardworking American consumer. Do Nothing Dick is just another politician who’s expiration date was 30 years ago.
To be fair, the Trump wing of the republican party is as responsible for this legislation as Durbin is. Two huge backers of Trump, senators Roger Marshall of Kansas and J.D Vance of Ohio, are co-sponsors of the bill. And another Trump loving senator, Josh Hawley, wants to cap credit card interest rates at 18%, rather than let the marketplace decide what rates should be. So it seems the Trump wing of the republican party is as much against the credit card industry as the democrats are.
As we should be. The credit card industry is a classic oligopoly, where Visa is over half the market, and Visa and Mastercard combined make up 76% of the market, American Express is roughly 20%, and Discover is a measly 4%. They charge exorbitant rates and prevent any competition. They never lose money. Ever. They made $51,000,000,000 in interchange fees in 2020. For what? A computer network to process payments? They’re terrible at preventing fraud. They don’t even seem to card. It took them nearly a decade to implement the chip on cards, and even then it took 5 years… Read more »
Wow, you sound like a Henny Penny, the sky is falling liberal , like Bernie Sanders. In your mind, if someone is making too much money you want to use the government to go after them. I guess Trump populism is no different than democratic party populism. But to your main point that there is no marketplace for payment options, you couldn’t be more wrong. No one is forced to pay for their goods and services with a credit card and no merchant is forced to receive payment for goods and services sold with a credit card. The obvious competition… Read more »
Digital wallets cannot provide the chargeback capability that Amex, Visa, MC and Discover can. Thus they will only be popular with those who cannot get credit or don’t know any better. This not knowing any better always ends the first time the customer gets screwed and realizes Amex or MC would’ve gotten their money back.
And by this don’t forget MC, Visa, Amex and Discover are simply clearinghouses. The BANKS issue the cards themselves. A Citibank Visa is much different from a Wells Fargo Visa or a US Bank Visa.
Yes, they are clearing houses, but Visa/MC are a classic duopoly where they control an outsized portion of the market and it is impossible for new entrants to compete. The banks issue the cards, yes, but they are all basically the same. Even the banks themselves – the four major banks – Chase, BoA, Wells, Citi, control an outsized portion of the market. Chase dwarfs all the rest of them too. Along these lines, venture capitalists constantly complain that innovation has been stiffled in the internet tech sphere because of Google, they are so anticompetive, few can compete with them.… Read more »
I don’t have problems with companies making money. I have a problem with market consolidation that artificially inflates price due to a LACK of competition. That is the credit card market interchange. It is also the chicken processing market, the hearing aid market, the coat hanger market, the beef processing market, cell phone operating system market, the search market, and so on and so on, the major media, etc. Matt Stoller addresses these issues in his substack – America has completely abandoned antitrust law and has allowed our economy to become a a collection of monopolies, duopolies and oligopolies, where… Read more »
Leave it to the Turdbin for maximum incompetence.
A merchant refusing to take cash is persona non grata to my wallet.