Frontline - Secret History of the Credit Card (2004)

[bart]

Re: Frontline - Secret History of the Credit Card (2004)

We need to instate national usury laws. Period. Max credit card lending rate: LIBOR + 6%.

Sorry, bankers. Go get real jobs.

Agreed, although I'd rather see something like EONIA used instead of LIBOR. EONIA does a better job of representing risk and is more difficult to game.

[Rajiv]

Re: Frontline - Secret History of the Credit Card (2004)

I would still add to that there be no payment grace period, and that fees and interest be charged from the date and time of credit card use.

Credit Cards should not be used as a substitute for money. It is a loan, and should be treatede as a loan!

[zoog]

Re: Frontline - Secret History of the Credit Card (2004)

I would still add to that there be no payment grace period, and that fees and interest be charged from the date and time of credit card use.

Credit Cards should not be used as a substitute for money. It is a loan, and should be treatede as a loan!

Meanie Weenie :p

I'm sure we've politely disagreed about this before. I use my credit card all the time for daily purchases... food, gas, clothes, whatever. Always pay it off each month, haven't carried a balance in a few years. It is a convenience, I hate writing checks, and don't like carrying a lot of cash. If the banks want to charge the stores I go to a fee for my convenience, what do I care? Although of course I am ultimately paying for it in pass-through overhead costs in the things I buy... so I am being charged a fee at the time of purchase, in an indirect way. While I might agree with you theoretically, academically... in practice, if I had to pay interest every month, I wouldn't use the card and would hassle with either more cash or my hand falling off writing checks. Guess I could use my ATM debit card, or do you think the banks should charge interest on those too?:eek:

I enjoyed this Frontline when it came out, highly recommend the video to anyone who hasn't seen it.

[Jim Nickerson]

Re: Frontline - Secret History of the Credit Card (2004)

Meanie Weenie :p

I'm sure we've politely disagreed about this before. I use my credit card all the time for daily purchases... food, gas, clothes, whatever. Always pay it off each month, haven't carried a balance in a few years. It is a convenience, I hate writing checks, and don't like carrying a lot of cash. If the banks want to charge the stores I go to a fee for my convenience, what do I care? Although of course I am ultimately paying for it in pass-through overhead costs in the things I buy... so I am being charged a fee at the time of purchase, in an indirect way. While I might agree with you theoretically, academically... in practice, if I had to pay interest every month, I wouldn't use the card and would hassle with either more cash or my hand falling off writing checks. Guess I could use my ATM debit card, or do you think the banks should charge interest on those too?:eek:

I enjoyed this Frontline when it came out, highly recommend the video to anyone who hasn't seen it.

Until those who supposedly write the laws (those elected vs. the lobbyists--you figure out who actually does the writing) you needn't worry about credit cards going away.

I agree, zoog, Rajiv is a mean-spirited person when he has the brashness to write the truth about how credit cards should be used. But if they were used "his" way for a month/year, the banks would go broke, until the Feds bailed them out.

[Slimprofits]

Re: Frontline - Secret History of the Credit Card (2004)

Guess I could use my ATM debit card

That's what I do. No fees, no interest.

[Rajiv]

Re: Frontline - Secret History of the Credit Card (2004)

Zoog,

That is how I use my credit cards as well -- and they have been a life saver at a critical point in my life -- However, I firmly believe that the downside of the Lure and Hook is in general much greater than the benefits.

I think decreasing fees on debit cards -- and encouraging there use would work for the purposes that you and I use credit cards for -- and it would result in more "responsible" consumer spending.

If everybody was to use credit cards as you and I do, then as Jim Nickerson suggested, the banks would go broke within a month/year - and the FED would bail them out!