Central Perk

duminică, 11 decembrie 2011

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis

Nigel Farage: Escape Euro Prison!
It's So Secret, Even the Fed Does Not Know Who It's Lending To
Cameron Pledges to "Fight from Within"; Two-Thirds of Voters Agree with Refusal to Sign Treaty, Nearly 50% Want to Leave EU; Better to Let Them "Do Their Own Thing" says Cameron

Posted: 11 Dec 2011 06:22 PM PST

When it comes to humor from politicians (in a good sense), Nigel Farage is right at the top of the list.

His opening line had me laughing out loud.

Link if YouTube video does not play: Escape Euro Prison!

Partial Transcript

RT: Britain has no to tighter controls leaving Euro countries to sort themselves out and the UK is being pushed further aside.

Farage: Well let's hope so ... Cameron said can we have some small concessions. Sarkozy told him to take a running jump. On the face of it I should be cheering David Cameron and say isn't it marvelous, the British prime minister has finally stood up and said something. ... But we are still members of the union, wae are still bound by all its legislation, and yet what's perfectly clear is henceforth we will have no influence whatsoever. And actually what I am getting from journalists all over Europe is Britain is now despised. So I think what will happen now, bank in the United Kingdom is we are about to launch into a very big national debate about whether we should be members of this union at all.

RT: If these countries are going to push on, can the 17 Euro nations solve this by themselves?

Farage: Listen. The word "solve" implies there is some easy solution. There isn't. The Euro is a misconstruction. Countries like Greece and Portugal should never have joined it in the first place.

RT: Are you saying this could lead to a split in the union?

Farage: I think what we saw, in the early hours of this morning was the biggest split in the European Union in fifty years. The UK has been a member of this thing since 1973 and we are a big economy, we're an important country, and whether David Cameron knows it or not, what he did last night was the first step towards the exit door.

RT: How easy would it be for those countries to convince their populations about facing tighter controls? What would the people think about all of this?

Farage: Believe you me. If we were to put this Euro package to the electorate of Greece, of Portugal, of Ireland, of Italy, of Spain, they would all say no. .... These electorates find themselves trapped inside an economic prison that is called the Euro. Their democracy has been stripped from them. My fear is the kind of civil disobedience and civil disorder that you have already sen on the streets of Greece will multiply. ... If you are stuck in a bad marriage, the best thing to do is end the marriage and start again. I see no hope at all for the Greek economy, stuck inside this economic prison that is called the Euro.

====================

Farage is 100% correct. If the UK is being push aside (and it is), Cameron should embrace being shoved aside and let Merkozy fend for themselves.

Thus, Cameron needs to put UK membership in the EU up for public vote, smashing the ball straight down Sarkozy's throat.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com
Click Here To Scroll Thru My Recent Post List

It's So Secret, Even the Fed Does Not Know Who It's Lending To

Posted: 11 Dec 2011 04:13 PM PST

Some might think the Fed would care where dollar swaps to Europe go. However, if the Fed cares, it doesn't know.

Bloomberg reports No One Telling Who Took $586 Billion in Swaps With Fed Condoning Anonymity.

For all the transparency forced on the Federal Reserve by Congress and the courts, one of the central bank's emergency-lending programs remains so secretive that names of borrowers may be hidden from the Fed itself.

As part of a currency-swap plan active from 2007 to 2010 and revived to fight the European debt crisis, the Fed lends dollars to other central banks, which auction them to local commercial banks. Lending peaked at $586 billion in December 2008. While the transactions with other central banks are all disclosed, the Fed doesn't track where the dollars ultimately end up, and European officials don't share borrowers' identities outside the continent.

The lack of openness may leave the U.S. government and public in the dark on the beneficiaries and potential risks from one of the Fed's largest crisis-loan programs. The European Central Bank's three-month dollar lending through the swap lines surged last week to $50.7 billion from $400 million after the Nov. 30 announcement that the Fed, in concert with the ECB and four other central banks, lowered the interest rate by a half percentage point.

"Increased transparency is warranted here," given the size of the Fed's aid and current pressures on European banks, said Representative Randy Neugebauer, a Texas Republican who heads the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations.

Whether the U.S. should make disclosure of the recipients a condition of the swap lines is "probably a discussion we need to have," possibly in a hearing that includes Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke, Neugebauer said.

Michelle Smith, a Fed spokeswoman, said there is "no formal reporting channel" for the identities of borrowers from other central banks, which are the Fed's only counterparties on the swap lines and assume any credit risk.

"U.S. taxpayers have never lost a penny" on the program, she said.

Might I point out that US taxpayers never lost a cent on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac either, until of course they lost $200 billion and counting.

Fundamental Problem

Joseph Stiglitz, a Nobel Prize-winning economist who led President Bill Clinton's Council of Economic Advisers, said the "fundamental problem" is that capital markets need information to work properly, yet the Fed is saying, "we believe in capital-market discipline without information."

"It would be very useful to see" those names, said Stiglitz, a professor at Columbia University in New York. With the dollar auctions of foreign central banks shielded from disclosure, "what we have now is a very partial picture."

If banks are in such dire straits that they would be at risk if everyone knew they were using the discount window, then they are also in such dire straits the Fed ought not be lending to them in the first place.

Actually, the problem is more fundamental. There should not be a Fed at all. Banks might then think twice about being so freaking leveraged.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com
Click Here To Scroll Thru My Recent Post List

Cameron Pledges to "Fight from Within"; Two-Thirds of Voters Agree with Refusal to Sign Treaty, Nearly 50% Want to Leave EU; Better to Let Them "Do Their Own Thing" says Cameron

Posted: 11 Dec 2011 07:47 AM PST

The political rift between the UK Prime Minister David Cameron (Conservative) and the Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg (Liberal Democrat) widened into a public feud over Cameron's refusal to sign the Merkozy accord.

The Deputy Prime Minister says U.K. Coalition Breakup Over EU Would Cause Economic 'Disaster'

U.K. Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said a breakup of the coalition government would spell "economic disaster" for Britain while saying he was "bitterly disappointed" by last week's European Union summit.

Prime Minister David Cameron's refusal to back a 27-nation pact to tighten budget rules may leave the U.K. "isolated and marginalized within the European Union," Clegg told the British Broadcasting Corp.'s "Marr" program today. Still, he said "it would be even more damaging for us as a country if the coalition government was now to fall apart. It would create economic disaster."

By refusing the join the planned fiscal accord, Cameron strengthened that wing of his Conservative party who want Britain to leave the EU. He also caused the biggest rift with his coalition partners since both parties campaigned on opposite sides of a May referendum on overhauling Britain's voting system.

A poll by Survation for the Mail on Sunday today showed that almost two-thirds of voters said Cameron was right to back out of the EU accord, while 48 percent said Britain should leave the EU altogether. A poll by ComRes, carried out just before the summit for the Independent on Sunday, showed 52 percent of Britons say the euro crisis is an ideal opportunity for the U.K. to leave the EU.

Clegg said that Cameron had been placed in a "difficult position" at the Dec. 8 to Dec. 9 EU meeting because he faced "intransigence" from France and Germany. Nevertheless, he added that the government should now "fight, fight and fight again" for Britain's interests within the EU.

Not Good Enough

Cameron told reporters following the all-night talks that "what was on offer just wasn't good enough for Britain. It's better to allow those countries to do their own thing on their own."

Paddy Ashdown, a former Liberal Democrat leader, today criticized the move, saying Cameron's decision "doesn't make it easier" to get the U.K. through the economic crisis. "Cameron has acted as the leader of the Conservative Party and not the prime minister of Great Britain," he told Sky News.

Simple Math

Let me point out some simple math to Paddy Ashdown: Two-thirds of voters approve of Cameron's decision not to sell the UK down the river. Thus Cameron not only acted as Conservative leader, but rather for all of the UK.

Moreover, I might point out, Cameron should go one step further and call for a referendum to leave the EU. Let the voters decide.

Better to Let Them "Do Their Own Thing"

Here is a fitting tribute to Cameron's statement "what was on offer just wasn't good enough for Britain. It's better to allow those countries to do their own thing on their own."

Link if video does not play: "It's Your Thing" by The Isley Brothers

Fight, Fight, Fight Again Within the EU

Rah, Rah, Sis Coom Bah, Cameron wants to "Fight from Within!" Yeah that's the spirit. Episode number Five from the British Sitcom Yes Minister explains why.

Episode Five: The Writing on the Wall

Sir Humphrey: Minister, Britain has had the same foreign policy objective for at least the last five hundred years: to create a disunited Europe. In that cause we have fought with the Dutch against the Spanish, with the Germans against the French, with the French and Italians against the Germans, and with the French against the Germans and Italians. Divide and rule, you see. Why should we change now, when it's worked so well?

Hacker: That's all ancient history, surely?

Sir Humphrey: Yes, and current policy. We had to break the whole thing [the EEC] up, so we had to get inside. We tried to break it up from the outside, but that wouldn't work. Now that we're inside we can make a complete pig's breakfast of the whole thing: set the Germans against the French, the French against the Italians, the Italians against the Dutch. The Foreign Office is terribly pleased; it's just like old times.

Hacker: But surely we're all committed to the European ideal?
Sir Humphrey: [chuckles] Really, Minister.

Hacker: If not, why are we pushing for an increase in the membership?
Sir Humphrey: Well, for the same reason. It's just like the United Nations, in fact; the more members it has, the more arguments it can stir up, the more futile and impotent it becomes.

Hacker: What appalling cynicism.
Sir Humphrey: Yes... We call it diplomacy, Minister.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com
Click Here To Scroll Thru My Recent Post List

[Fast Blog Finder] When DoFollow blogs can hurt you...

The majority of bloggers are kind of radical when it comes to blog commenting -- they're focusing on DoFollow blogs and let others tap into NoFollow direct link traffic.

Smart users recognize the power of "never leaving money on the table" that's why I suggest you give the DoFollow blogs priority while take advantage of NoFollow blogs too. You never know where the best traffic is coming from, so why not get the most out of everything you do?

Just remember this rule when you comment on DoFollow blogs -- don't be greedy!

So, click the link below to know how you can hurt yourself when commenting on DoFollow blogs:

http://www.fastblogfinder.com/can-dofollow-blogs-hurt-you/

Have you ever found some crappy blogs showing from search to search? In Fast Blog Finder Gold edition you can add those domains to the blacklist in order not to see them in the results anymore [funny way to "manipulate" Google results!]

Julia Gulevich
G-Lock Software
julia@glocksoft.com

P.S In my next email I'll reveal you one little secret how you can double your link building efforts. Hope you're still on the list.

Company info:

G-Lock Software, Level 5, 369 Queen Street, Auckland, NZ.

You can modify/cancel your subscription via the link below:
http://glockdb.com/u?xemail=ZTBuc3RhcjEuYmxvZ0BnbWFpbC5jb20

Seth's Blog : The trap of social media noise

The trap of social media noise

If we put a number on it, people will try to make the number go up.

Now that everyone is a marketer, many people are looking for a louder megaphone, a chance to talk about their work, their career, their product... and social media looks like the ideal soapbox, a free opportunity to shout to the masses.

But first, we're told to make that number go up. Increase the number of fans, friends and followers, so your shouts will be heard. The problem of course is that more noise is not better noise.

In Corey's words, the conventional, broken wisdom is:

Follow a ton of people to get people to follow back
Focus on the # of followers, not the interests of followers or your relationship with them.
Pump links through the social platform (take your pick, or do them all!)
Offer nothing of value, and no context. This is a megaphone, not a telephone.
Think you're winning, because you're playing video games (highest follower count wins!)

This looks like winning (the numbers are going up!), but it's actually a double-edged form of losing. First, you're polluting a powerful space, turning signals into noise and bringing down the level of discourse for everyone. And second, you're wasting your time when you could be building a tribe instead, could be earning permission, could be creating a channel where your voice is actually welcomed.

Leadership (even idea leadership) scares many people, because it requires you to own your words, to do work that matters. The alternative is to be a junk dealer.

The game theory pushes us into one of two directions: either be better at pump and dump than anyone else, get your numbers into the millions, outmass those that choose to use mass and always dance at the edge of spam (in which the number of those you offend or turn off forever keep increasing), or

Relentlessly focus. Prune your message and your list and build a reputation that's worth owning and an audience that cares.

Only one of these strategies builds an asset of value.

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sâmbătă, 10 decembrie 2011

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis

Poland Needs to Spend 30% of Total Budget on IMF Bailouts to EU as Result of Merkozy Summit

Posted: 10 Dec 2011 05:20 PM PST

Marcin, a reader from Poland writes ...

Hello Mish

Amazing but Poland's commitments after recent summits are to be 30% of our yearly budget! Where are this money going to come from is a great mystery to me as we are on a brink of reaching the constitutional debt limit of 55% of GDP.

Recently Merkel had confirmed Poland as being "very important" to Germany's plans and our Prime Minster and Minister of Finance both talked about Poland's accession in 2015 so this might indicate that both of above reasons might be in play.

However recent polls show that public does not like the idea of common currency (51% said no and only 17% yes) so why both of these gentlemen are so Euro-enthusiastic is far beyond me.

They are among the fools who think that throwing money on the debt issue will solve it once and for all. It looks like we learn nothing from the history as we are going to be f@#$ed again and unlike post WWII, this time by the western Europe.

Best, Marcin

30% of Budget to IMF? WTF?

As preposterous as that sounds, please consider this Google Translation: 100 billion zł in Polish for European bankrupts

European leaders have agreed to collect 200 billion for the International Monetary Fund to rescue the euro area. For Poland is to fall more than 100 billion zł - says the "Polish daily Gazeta."

The amount is one third of all Polish budgetary expenditure or as much on health care or modernization of our military spending by more than a dozen years.

Quoted by the newspaper of Adam Smith Center President Robert Gwiazdowski believes that it is absurd to issue our money to rescue Italy or Greece, which in addition can not be saved.

Time to face the truth and let the bankrupts fail, so they can start to build their economies from new on firmer foundations.

Please note the 200 billion number is in euros, while the Polish contribution is 100 billion Zloty.

Conversion of Zloty to Euro shows the Polish contribution to be 22.17 billion Euros, roughly 11% of the total contribution.

However, that 11% contribution is enormous to Poland. Reuters states Polish Expenditures for 2012 328.8 billion zlotys. Thus Marcin's math is correct. I calculate 30.41% to be precise.

Quite frankly it is idiotic to even think about giving 30% of a nation's budget to the IMF.

Federalists Have Gone Too Far for the Polish Opposition

On December 2, before this proposed idiocy, European Disunion reported Federalists Have Gone Too Far for the Polish Opposition

Just when you thought that European politics couldn't be any more unstable, Poland's main opposition party, Law and Justice, has called for Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski to be summoned to the State Tribunal - the Polish equivalent of impeachment - after a controversial speech on European integration. The speech, in which Mr. Sikorski ;extolled the virtues of a greater German role in dealing with the eurozone crisis - on the grounds that 'no-one else can do it' - and called for the Commission to be given greater powers over national budgets, has been interpreted by Law and Justice as a call for a reduction in Polish national sovereignty - an act that many consider tantamount to treason.

In a interview on public television, conservative liberal Law and Justice party leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski stated his intention to bring the Foreign Minister before the State Tribunal - which decides whether or not politcians have overstepped the bounds of the country's post-war constitution. He also added that 'most Poles do not want Polish independence to be a twenty-year interlude,' and declared that he would hold a 'march for independence' later in the month, following the sabotage by federalist activists of protests by smaller, fringe groups, on November 11th.

Polish Cowards Will Not Hold Referendum

Donald Tusk, Poland's Eurocratic prime minister, will likely not put this IMF contribution to a public referendum where it would promply be smashed to smithereens in a popular vote. Instead Poland's leadership will attempt to cram this monstrosity down taxpayer's throats, hoping no one notices or speaks up.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com
Click Here To Scroll Thru My Recent Post List

Britain Seethes, Germany Sulks, France Gloats; UK "Big Loser" Falls into "French Trap"?; Who is the "Real Loser"? Bazooka Math

Posted: 10 Dec 2011 09:35 AM PST

Yesterday, various news agencies reported that Hungary opted out of the treaty while Sweden and Czech Republic remained "undecided". However, the latest spin is that Hungary did not opt out yet and the gang of 26 will forge ahead without the UK.

UK the "Big Loser" Having Fallen into "French Trap"?

Last evening in German Vision Prevails as Leaders Agree on Fiscal Pact the New York Times portrayed the UK as the "big loser", stating Cameron made a "poor gamble". On EU official said the UK fell into a "French Trap".

Exactly 20 years to the day after European leaders signed the treaty that led to the creation of the European Union and the euro currency, Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany persuaded every current member of the union except Britain to endorse a new agreement calling for tighter regional oversight of government spending. The accord, approved at a summit meeting in Brussels early on Friday, would allow the European Court of Justice to strike down a member's laws if they violate fiscal discipline.

The big loser in Brussels was Britain, which had endorsed the 1991 Maastricht Treaty on European integration but opted out of the new euro common currency to preserve its economic and monetary independence.

Prime Minister David Cameron, a Conservative and self-acknowledged "euroskeptic," was isolated in his refusal to allow the German prescription of "more Europe" — to give teeth to fiscal pledges underpinning the euro.

Mr. Cameron was perceived as having made a poor gamble in opposing the push by Mrs. Merkel and President Nicolas Sarkozy of France, embittering relations and possibly damaging his standing at home. Though some other countries, including Denmark and Hungary, initially shared Britain's skepticism of the German-led agreement, only Britain ultimately rejected it.

British hopes to lead an alliance of the 10 union members that do not use the euro were dashed. Mr. Cameron failed to bring along allies among the Nordic or ex-Communist nations whose membership in the bloc Britain had championed and who are usually regarded as more Atlanticist and favorable to free markets.

European officials argued that Mr. Cameron had in effect fallen into a French trap, making demands that most of his colleagues felt were unrelated to the euro zone crisis at issue. France has long desired an inner European core based on the countries that use the euro and excluding the free-market British.

Mr. Sarkozy also said he was tired of British criticism of the handling of the crisis. "I am sick of hearing every day David criticizing us," Mr. Sarkozy said, according to one official briefed on the discussions. On Friday, as the summit meeting was breaking up, Mr. Sarkozy snubbed Mr. Cameron, brushing past his outstretched hand.

Britain Seethes, Germany Sulks, France Gloats

Reuters reports Europe pushes ahead with fiscal union, with the UK isolated alone.

Europe secured an historic agreement to draft a new treaty for deeper economic integration in the euro zone on Friday, but Britain, the region's third largest economy, refused to join the other 26 countries in a fiscal union and was left isolated.

After 10 hours of talks that ran into the early hours of Friday, Britain found itself without any allies around the table, diplomats said. All the other nine non-euro states said they wanted to take part in the fiscal union process, subject to parliamentary approval.

"Once Cameron said for sure he wasn't in, it only took minutes for the other 26 to agree that they would push ahead with an intergovernmental treaty," one senior official involved in the discussions told reporters.

One senior EU diplomat called Cameron's negotiating tactics "clumsy." Among other things, he had sought a veto on a proposed financial transaction tax, which may now be voted through by a majority over the objections of London's financial centre.

One EU diplomat summed up the outcome as: "Britain seethes, Germany sulks, and France gloats."

Cameron hinted London may now try to prevent the others from using the executive European Commission and the European Court of Justice, saying: "Clearly the institutions of the European Union belong to the European Union, they belong to the 27."

But European Council President Herman Van Rompuy, who chaired the summit, said the EU institutions would be fully involved in the new treaty, which would be signed in early March at the latest. The euro zone plus nine may hold a summit without Britain as early as January, diplomats said.

The rift may increase pressure from Eurosceptics within Cameron's Conservative party and outside it for Britain to hold a referendum on leaving the EU, which it joined in 1973. The prime minister strongly opposes such a course, which he has said would be disastrous for British interests.

Spin City

Bear in mind that UK officials will go way out of their way to downplay any and every rift in the group of 26, while simultaneously portraying the UK as a "big loser" seething in the corner in isolation.

Cameron would have lost had he given into to EMU clowns. Giving up sovereignty to a group of unelected eurozone bureaucrats would have been exactly the wrong thing to do.

One does not "lose" by refusing to give into a group of fools and thugs.

Who is the "Real Loser"?

The losers are the citizens of every country that might be roped into piss poor deals down the line by an 85% majority of Eurocrat thugs. The last thing Eurocrat thugs want is voter referendums so they seek to reduce the chances by getting every country to cede power to a super-majority.

Meanwhile, to keep the money flowing, governments in Greece, Portugal, Spain, and Italy seem willing to do or say anything to keep the money flowing and the bond purchases going.

Germany is on the hook for this in more ways than one. As the ECB keeps bloating its balance sheet with garbage, German taxpayers are at risk, thanks to Merkel foolishly giving in to Sarkozy's insistence of "no losses for bondholders".

There are going to be losses, that I assure you. The question is who pay them?

As it stands now, Merkel sold German citizens down the river by caving into Sarkozy's demand.

It remains to be seen if Finland, the Netherlands, and other countries will go along with the 85% rule on treaty changes but they would be fools to do so.

It also remains to be seen if the German Supreme Court stands idly by an lets all of this happen as the Eurocrats have planned.

Cameron's Mistake

Cameron did not make a mistake in telling Eurocrat fools to shove it. However, he did make a huge mistake and he also painted himself into a corner by stating it would be "disastrous" for the UK to leave the EU.

Why? Disastrous for who?

The UK would get to shed arcane EU regulations on damn near everything, but especially agricultural tariffs that cost UK citizens plenty. The UK can stop sending money to the EU that goes into creating policies that further cost UK citizens money.

Whatever downside there is to leaving the EU, would be more than made up for by shedding EU bureaucracy and idiotic rules entirely.

Bazooka Math

Reuters reported ...

Two ECB sources said the bank's governing council decided on Thursday to keep bond buying limited to around 20 billion euros a week and there was no need to review the decision in the light of the summit outcome.

"You will see some further purchases but not the huge bazooka that some people in the markets and the media are awaiting," one central banker said on condition of anonymity.

Quite frankly that is a pretty damn big bazooka.

Here is the math. 20 billion * 52 = 1040 billion euros, or 1.394 trillion US dollars.

20 billion does not sound like much until you do the math. The ECB has in its power ability to monetize about half of all maturing Eurozone government debt. That is not the unlimited bazooka that Sarkozy wants, but it is a lot of firepower and as I said, European taxpayers are at risk for the entire amount.

The German Supreme court needs to put a halt to that, right here, right now.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com
Click Here To Scroll Thru My Recent Post List

Damn Cool Pics

Christmas Tree Made of 40,000 Plastic Bottles

Posted: 09 Dec 2011 07:59 PM PST

This Sunday Kaunas, Lithuania unveiled a 42 foot tall Christmas tree made of 40,000 Sprite plastic bottles. At night, the tree is lit by lights. The tree is by Lithuanian artist Jolanta Smidtiene.

Source: delfi

FW: A shorter, readable credit card agreement

On Tuesday, President Obama traveled to Osawatomie, Kansas, to lay out his vision for America -- where everyone from Wall Street to Main Street plays by the same rules and all Americans have a fair shot at success. Check out his speech here.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is a key part of achieving that vision. Unfortunately, some Republicans in Congress are trying to dismantle this important consumer watchdog, even before it gets fully off the ground by blocking the nomination of Richard Cordray, the President's nominee to be the director of CFPB. In his weekly address, President Obama calls on Congress to stop playing politics with important protections for American families.

Watch the video.

Despite not having a director, the CFPB is doing everything they can to fight for consumers. In fact, this week, they kicked off a pilot program to simplify credit card agreements, and we wanted to make sure you saw it. Read their email below.

From: Marla Blow, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Subject: A shorter, readable credit card agreement

Millions of times every year, financial institutions issue a new credit card agreement to their customers. And every year, millions of consumers receive new agreements and do not read them.

We have an idea that we think can make things better: a simplified credit card agreement.

Check it out, and tell us what you think.

www.consumerfinance.gov/credit-cards/knowbeforeyouowe/

Credit cards are simple to use, but consumers have a lot of choice in exactly how they use them. Differences between cards provide even more choices to consumers.

Credit card agreements describe the terms and features of a particular card. They spell out the rights and obligations of both parties, and provide legal protections for the issuer.

This can result in a dense and complicated document that can be difficult for consumers to understand.

The thought-starter we’ve developed reduces this complexity. We’ve separated the key terms from the legalese, leaving a clear, readable document.

We think it makes sense to give consumers a short, understandable document with the key terms they need to know. And we think it makes sense to give issuers the option to use our definitions, freely available on our website. We think this could reduce the costs of compliance and printing.

But as credit card users and issuers, you’re the people who need these agreements to work for you, so we want to know what you think. Would consumers be more likely to read this? Could issuers use this approach for their own products?

Take a look at what we’ve come up with. Weigh in with your thoughts to help us make credit card agreements better.

www.consumerfinance.gov/credit-cards/knowbeforeyouowe/

Thank you,

Marla Blow
Acting Assistant Director, Card Markets
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Continue to ConsumerFinance.gov

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Seth's Blog : Getting the OS right (for the iPhone, the iPad and the Kindle)

Getting the OS right (for the iPhone, the iPad and the Kindle)

Stores went from being buildings to becoming websites... and now to devices. But Mr. Gimbel and Mr. Macy would be amazed and probably peturbed if they had to use an iPhone for more than a few minutes.

Some easily answered requests:

Why can't I see my apps in alphabetical order?

Or in the order they are most used?

Why can't I list the apps in text form, putting 80 on a page in two columns, instead of only 16 or 20 at a time?

Why isn't there a suggestor/genius that allows me to find apps that others with habits like mine use? It could change over time and reward me for opting in.

On the Kindle, why can't I see my archives organized by order of purchase? Date last read? Length? Popularity?

With ebooks, when shopping, wouldn't you want to know what percentage of the people who bought the book, finished it? How about being able to opt in to circles of readers and sharing comments, progress and reading lists as you go?

All of these improvements help people use the apps they've chosen and read the books they've purchased. And none of them cost much at all to deliver.

But let's not forget that some people actually like shopping. Are the online stores for these devices fun or exciting or social? Do they live and grow and change or are they static warehouses?

The seeds of what we buy and how we buy it are being planted with these early versions of the devices. I wonder if we're being cheated out of discovery, productivity and a bit of fun.

• Email to a friend •

duminică, 11 decembrie 2011

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis

[Fast Blog Finder] When DoFollow blogs can hurt you...

Seth's Blog : The trap of social media noise

The trap of social media noise

More Recent Articles

sâmbătă, 10 decembrie 2011

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis

Damn Cool Pics

Damn Cool Pics

FW: A shorter, readable credit card agreement

Seth's Blog : Getting the OS right (for the iPhone, the iPad and the Kindle)

Getting the OS right (for the iPhone, the iPad and the Kindle)

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duminică, 11 decembrie 2011

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sâmbătă, 10 decembrie 2011

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Arhivă blog

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