April 20, 2009 | Posted by

Econ 101: Credit Card Fees

Banks opened a dirty, ugly Pandora’s box when they destroyed their balance sheets to the point that the Federal government HAD to bail them out.   Unfortunately now they’ll be paying for it, dearly. President Obama is going after their credit card fees and will likely not stop there. Our government will start setting interest rates banks can charge and thus will be effectively determining banks’ profitability.

I am sure this will be a very popular with voters, but it is horrible for banks, the economy, and the population whom Mr. Obama is trying to “defend.” When you lower the price of something you’ll have less of it. But maybe all this won’t matter in the short-run as consumers are deleveraging and paying off their debts.

Bookmark and Share

Short URL: http://ContrarianEdge.com/?p=990

  • http://www.GAMria.com Joe Gordon

    Banks are using twisted logic by stiffing good customers to finance the deadbeats in default. Everyone I talk to on the ground says they hate their bank that jacked up card rates just when people were worrying that they needed credit and were most vulnerable.

Recently Commented

  • Anonymous: Great story and I admire your work. Did you marry a Russian girl? Being married to a Russian girl and...
  • Christian Rivera: Also can Walmart grow eps 15%/yr like they did from 1996 to 2006?
  • Christian Rivera: Vitaliyk, do you think Walmart will increase margins more than 50% (3.5% to 5.3%) in the next...
  • McCoy Penninger: I really enjoyed reading this.  Dead on.
  • I Need Money: So I guess is we hear Hoenig say that “the Fed should stick to its mission as lender of last...

Recently Added