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  • New Bloomberg Poll Reveals Americans Distaste for Bankers, Banks, Execs, and Desire for Regulation--but not Much Faith in Politicians

    Bloomberg has released the results of a new national poll on Americans' attitudes toward Wall Street, bankers, and regulation of financial institutions. The poll shows that Americans are not too fond of anyone at this moment::bankers, insurance companies, Wall Street, corporate executives. And while they favor "punishing banks," nearly 70% say they want the government to regulate consumer protection through currently available means, rather than establish a new agency. John McCormick and Alison Vekshin report: As Democrats and Republicans seek to tap populist ire, the poll shows there may be political advantage in taking on big financial institutions such as Charlotte, North Carolina-based Bank of America Corp. , and New York’s Goldman Sachs Group Inc. The majority of poll participants -- 56 percent -- say big financial companies are more interested in enriching themselves at the expense of ordinary people, while 40 percent say such firms play a vital role in enabling the economy to grow. At the same time, Americans are divided over the scope of government regulation. More than 40 percent of Americans say the government has gone too far in measures to fix the financial industry; 37 percent say it hasn’t done enough. Almost six out of 10 people say Wall Street hasn’t gone far enough on its own to protect against future emergencies. “Anything the government gets their fingers in, they mess it up,” said poll participant Norman White, 60, a community college electronics instructor who lives in Colfax, Louisiana . “I don’t have a very high opinion of the government running anything.” Read Wall Street Despised in Poll Showing Majority Want Regulation here .
  • Federal Reserve Pushes New Rules to Protect Credit Card Users

    The Federal Reserve is proposing new rules to strengthen Truth in Lending regulation. And , according to the Fed, the new rules would: Protect consumers from unexpected increases in credit card interest rates by generally prohibiting increases in a rate during the first year after an account is opened and increases in a rate that applies to an existing credit card balance. Prohibit creditors from issuing a credit card to a consumer who is under the age of 21 unless the consumer has the ability to make the required payments or obtains the signature of a parent or other cosigner with the ability to do so. Require creditors to obtain a consumer's consent before charging fees for transactions that exceed the credit limit. Limit the high fees associated with subprime credit cards. Ban creditors from using the "two-cycle" billing method to impose interest charges. Prohibit creditors from allocating payments in ways that maximize interest charges. Read the Fed's release here .