Right on. I have a question for you, Professor. Why in holy hell is credit card interest so damn usuriously high? When interest rates have been historically low for so long? I’m no economist. But it freaking looks like collusion to me.
There in lies the rub. The Brookings Institute did an economic study on inflation since the supply chain issues due to COVID. They found that after the supply chain issues were resolved, 60% of inflation was due to price gouging.
And any time democrats try to stop corporate greed, the lobbyists take a two pronged approach.
First, they buy off as many congressmen and senators as possible and support republican candidates.
Secondly, they spend money through super-pacs and industry groups; telling consumers how democrats want to take away their choices away, and control what people buy.
A perfect example is the financial industry’s attempts to kill the CFPB or Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which was enacted under Obama after the Great Recession. And if not kill it, then render it toothless.
Or Medicare Part D; which doesn’t allow Medicare or Medicaid to negotiate drug prices; a gift to the pharmaceutical lobby by republicans during Bish’s presidency.
Companies and industries don’t need to conspire to fix prices anymore, when we have a Congress willing to do its bidding for Pennie’s on the dollar.
Kerry, the credit card companies say their interest rates are high because (1) they don't charge any interest as long as you pay the purchase balance in full by the due date, (2) they're unsecured loans, so the card companies are taking added risk by not requiring consumers to provide collateral for the money borrowed, (3) their high processing costs from the volume of transactions, (4) their high costs of protecting (and reimbursing) cardholders from credit card fraud, and (5) as the Fed raises interest rates on all lending, they have to recoup these costs as well.
But all these standard reasons given the public leave out the fact that Visa and Mastercard (which have the bulk of the credit card business) are a duopoly, which easily coordinate their interest rates and fees, keeping them higher than they'd be in a competitive credit card market. Hope this helps.
I totally agree. I stopped drinking sodas with high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) in 2017. I lost 20 lbs in two months. Sodas are really bad for you. Diet drinks are likely worse. Sugar is a major problem.
I was trying to figure out how we (society) have come to a childhood obesity epidemic, so I asked an Endocrinologist if it is "possible that some people just cannot process high fructose corn syrup?" She looked at me serious and said firmly, "yes! That's why we're trying to get them out of schools."
In DC in 2018, Robert Reich explained about his first job in DC working for the Commerce Department. They learned that sugar was very unhealthy, so they attempted to regulate it. However, the industry fought back by getting their Representatives defund the Commerce Department.
So there you have it. An unhealthy industry manipulated Congress to act in their special interest, rather than For The People. Congress sided with industry greed and ignored the science needed to protect Americans.
Who knew that since then, hundreds of millions of Americans would become diabetic, live unhealthy lives, and die of related diseases? Who knew that the problem of too much sugar and HFCS, that we knew about in the 60's, would create today's CHILDHOOD OBESITY EPIDEMIC and diabetes problem? Can you imagine how much money society has paid in healthcare costs, and how many lives have been lost, because sugar went unregulated?
Please folks, stop drinking sodas! And fight back when industry manipulates Congress to allow something unsafe. It may not seem like it at the moment, but many millions of lives and BILLIONS or TRILLIONS of dollars in healthcare costs may be on the line.
When Biden asked for authority to sue price fixers and price gougers, Republicans refused. Most of the inflation was initiated when Trump and OPEC limited oil production, which was like a snowball at the top of a mountain, generating an avalanche. Corporations have been increasing prices on top of higher energy prices.
It is also a national security problem. Higher energy profits fund Putin on the Ukraine War, Iran and its proxy wars.
OPEC is controlled primarily by Saudi Arabia, Russia and other oil states. We are now "energy independent" but our prices are fixed by Saudis, who own our largest oil refineries and control companies like Exxon.
Antitrust law enforcement is all that will break the backs of humongous corporations. The grocery prices stay high to impact consumers in such a way that they blame Biden for their weakened pocketbooks. Of course, companies don’t want a Democrat like Biden to continue the inroads he’s making with junk fee reductions, good union jobs, as he moves us from “trickle down” economics to “build up” from poverty and out to the middle class. When did we ever want a trickle anyway!
And don’t forget the double-whammy of wage suppression- these higher prices would be more justified if a fair share of the revenue trickled down to the shop floor and middle management. Nowadays most profits reward only senior executive level and above
Thank you Professor for pointing out the truth of greedflation. Ari Melber did a small segment of his show on MSNBC last year and not a peep since. I tried contacting the White House about this several times only to be thanked for appreciating the President's efforts to curb inflation. This is a subject that has been swept under the carpet, perhaps due to the widespread nature of the consumer rip off. Corporate CEOs justify it citing their shareholders but that doesn't help us ordinary senior citizens trying to live on a fixed income! Keep at it, your voice makes more sense than most.
Back in the 60s there was a slogan much used on the ultra-left, "Smash Capital!" The idea of using this today is frightening: would it not just put everyone off? But its use had an interesting effect. It pushed the centre of political debate leftwards. Today, the only extremists are ultra-right Republicans whose views have shifted the median way to the right. So why not start thinking and saying the now-unthinkable? (Even if we don't really want it.) The current capitalist system is taking more and more and more from everyone's pockets to give it to the 0.1%. If this is not stopped, the 0.1% will own everything, and then there can only be one outcome. The People will smash capitalism. Using the slogan now might act like an antibody, saving the system by correcting the fever.
Time to use the hashtag #Greedflation because CEOs are milking America in this joyous win-win situation that they have created. These donors for Republicans can’t keep their puppet strings on Republicans if Dems win out in 2024, so they make an excuse to rake in insane profits while subjecting most of America to unnecessary hardships with a hope that they will be blamed on Biden.
Instead of focusing on chips and cookies, focus on housing. Rent is too high. Houses are completely unaffordable. There is not enough housing supply. Then we can look at car insurance, maintenance and parts, for we have to get to work. And we must focus on real food, produce, eggs, meat, fish, dairy prices. Get at the fundamentals that cause such pain and uncertainty/
And the most cynical aspect of this subject is that when Americans gain a modicum of understanding of how carnivorous the markets have become, the GOP simply boots up another culture war to distract consumers.
Right on. I have a question for you, Professor. Why in holy hell is credit card interest so damn usuriously high? When interest rates have been historically low for so long? I’m no economist. But it freaking looks like collusion to me.
There in lies the rub. The Brookings Institute did an economic study on inflation since the supply chain issues due to COVID. They found that after the supply chain issues were resolved, 60% of inflation was due to price gouging.
And any time democrats try to stop corporate greed, the lobbyists take a two pronged approach.
First, they buy off as many congressmen and senators as possible and support republican candidates.
Secondly, they spend money through super-pacs and industry groups; telling consumers how democrats want to take away their choices away, and control what people buy.
A perfect example is the financial industry’s attempts to kill the CFPB or Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which was enacted under Obama after the Great Recession. And if not kill it, then render it toothless.
Or Medicare Part D; which doesn’t allow Medicare or Medicaid to negotiate drug prices; a gift to the pharmaceutical lobby by republicans during Bish’s presidency.
Companies and industries don’t need to conspire to fix prices anymore, when we have a Congress willing to do its bidding for Pennie’s on the dollar.
Kerry, the credit card companies say their interest rates are high because (1) they don't charge any interest as long as you pay the purchase balance in full by the due date, (2) they're unsecured loans, so the card companies are taking added risk by not requiring consumers to provide collateral for the money borrowed, (3) their high processing costs from the volume of transactions, (4) their high costs of protecting (and reimbursing) cardholders from credit card fraud, and (5) as the Fed raises interest rates on all lending, they have to recoup these costs as well.
But all these standard reasons given the public leave out the fact that Visa and Mastercard (which have the bulk of the credit card business) are a duopoly, which easily coordinate their interest rates and fees, keeping them higher than they'd be in a competitive credit card market. Hope this helps.
RR
I totally agree. I stopped drinking sodas with high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) in 2017. I lost 20 lbs in two months. Sodas are really bad for you. Diet drinks are likely worse. Sugar is a major problem.
I was trying to figure out how we (society) have come to a childhood obesity epidemic, so I asked an Endocrinologist if it is "possible that some people just cannot process high fructose corn syrup?" She looked at me serious and said firmly, "yes! That's why we're trying to get them out of schools."
In DC in 2018, Robert Reich explained about his first job in DC working for the Commerce Department. They learned that sugar was very unhealthy, so they attempted to regulate it. However, the industry fought back by getting their Representatives defund the Commerce Department.
So there you have it. An unhealthy industry manipulated Congress to act in their special interest, rather than For The People. Congress sided with industry greed and ignored the science needed to protect Americans.
Who knew that since then, hundreds of millions of Americans would become diabetic, live unhealthy lives, and die of related diseases? Who knew that the problem of too much sugar and HFCS, that we knew about in the 60's, would create today's CHILDHOOD OBESITY EPIDEMIC and diabetes problem? Can you imagine how much money society has paid in healthcare costs, and how many lives have been lost, because sugar went unregulated?
Please folks, stop drinking sodas! And fight back when industry manipulates Congress to allow something unsafe. It may not seem like it at the moment, but many millions of lives and BILLIONS or TRILLIONS of dollars in healthcare costs may be on the line.
When Biden asked for authority to sue price fixers and price gougers, Republicans refused. Most of the inflation was initiated when Trump and OPEC limited oil production, which was like a snowball at the top of a mountain, generating an avalanche. Corporations have been increasing prices on top of higher energy prices.
It is also a national security problem. Higher energy profits fund Putin on the Ukraine War, Iran and its proxy wars.
OPEC is controlled primarily by Saudi Arabia, Russia and other oil states. We are now "energy independent" but our prices are fixed by Saudis, who own our largest oil refineries and control companies like Exxon.
Antitrust law enforcement is all that will break the backs of humongous corporations. The grocery prices stay high to impact consumers in such a way that they blame Biden for their weakened pocketbooks. Of course, companies don’t want a Democrat like Biden to continue the inroads he’s making with junk fee reductions, good union jobs, as he moves us from “trickle down” economics to “build up” from poverty and out to the middle class. When did we ever want a trickle anyway!
And don’t forget the double-whammy of wage suppression- these higher prices would be more justified if a fair share of the revenue trickled down to the shop floor and middle management. Nowadays most profits reward only senior executive level and above
What can I say except
VOTE BLUE!
Let’s boycott Pepsi and Coca-Cola! Our common sense and health demand it! Who really needs the mostly unhealthy products they sell?
Thank you Professor for pointing out the truth of greedflation. Ari Melber did a small segment of his show on MSNBC last year and not a peep since. I tried contacting the White House about this several times only to be thanked for appreciating the President's efforts to curb inflation. This is a subject that has been swept under the carpet, perhaps due to the widespread nature of the consumer rip off. Corporate CEOs justify it citing their shareholders but that doesn't help us ordinary senior citizens trying to live on a fixed income! Keep at it, your voice makes more sense than most.
Back in the 60s there was a slogan much used on the ultra-left, "Smash Capital!" The idea of using this today is frightening: would it not just put everyone off? But its use had an interesting effect. It pushed the centre of political debate leftwards. Today, the only extremists are ultra-right Republicans whose views have shifted the median way to the right. So why not start thinking and saying the now-unthinkable? (Even if we don't really want it.) The current capitalist system is taking more and more and more from everyone's pockets to give it to the 0.1%. If this is not stopped, the 0.1% will own everything, and then there can only be one outcome. The People will smash capitalism. Using the slogan now might act like an antibody, saving the system by correcting the fever.
#EatTheRich
Time to use the hashtag #Greedflation because CEOs are milking America in this joyous win-win situation that they have created. These donors for Republicans can’t keep their puppet strings on Republicans if Dems win out in 2024, so they make an excuse to rake in insane profits while subjecting most of America to unnecessary hardships with a hope that they will be blamed on Biden.
Instead of focusing on chips and cookies, focus on housing. Rent is too high. Houses are completely unaffordable. There is not enough housing supply. Then we can look at car insurance, maintenance and parts, for we have to get to work. And we must focus on real food, produce, eggs, meat, fish, dairy prices. Get at the fundamentals that cause such pain and uncertainty/
And the most cynical aspect of this subject is that when Americans gain a modicum of understanding of how carnivorous the markets have become, the GOP simply boots up another culture war to distract consumers.
Let's not forget that those corporate dollars find their way into both parties.