It’s Not the Uncertainty–It’s the Certainty

I have moved over to the “it’s not the uncertainty” camp. The president’s statement below seems to make it absolutely certain what rewards are likely to lie ahead for those dare to dream of profit:

“This is exactly why we need this Consumer Finance Protection Bureau that we set up that is ready to go,” Obama said. “This is exactly why we need somebody who’s sole job it is to prevent this kind of stuff from happening. … You can stop it because if you say to the banks, ‘You don’t have some inherent right just to – you know, get a certain amount of profit. If your customers – are being mistreated. That you have to treat them fairly and transparently.”

The story is reported here: Obama Blasts Bank of America’s Debit Fees.

I mean, I know that Bank of America (BAC) is a big bad ol’ bank. But the idea of a transparent fee-for-service pricing mechanism doesn’t seem so bad. The service has to be paid for somehow, doesn’t it?

Maybe he wants to kill the banks so that they will once again be in need of a government bailout? It would be a good way to exert ever more control over a petulant private sector that seemingly cannot understand all the good things coming out of Washington these days!

About David Andolfatto 95 Articles

Affiliation: Simon Fraser University and St. Louis Fed

David Andolfatto is a Vice President in the Research Division of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. He is also a professor of economics at Simon Fraser University.

Professor Andolfatto earned his Ph.D. in economics from the University of Western Ontario in 1994, M.A. and B.B.A. from Simon Fraser University. He was associate professor at the University of Waterloo before moving to Simon Fraser University in 2000.

His current research is focused on reconciling theories of money and banking. His past research has examined questions relating to the business cycle, contract design, bank-runs, unemployment insurance, monetary policy regimes, endogenous debt constraints, and technology diffusion.

Visit: MacroMania, David Andolfatto's Page

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