Where is the US economy headed?

so Okie and C.I. walk into a bar together...
CREDIT CARD PROFILING
There was an interesting story on NPR's Marketplace program this evening re how closely your credit card company may be looking at your card use. They are looking for changes in your buying habits.
So, C.I. and Okie walk into a bar and discover a mutual interest in 18th century Flemish painting. They meet again the next evening, and the next, for a couple of drinks and a light supper and talk. They split the bill and each put it on a card. The credit card company (CCC) may freak out. 3 nights in a row in a bar? Warning flags go up. These guys could be stressed out, perhaps worried about losing a job.
H2O typically has shopped at Whole Foods, but now he is buying at Stop/Shop/Bag it Yourself. For CCC, the fact that Whole Foods closed the store convenient to him is irrelevant.
A charge on your credit card for a visit to Foxfyre's Marriage Counselors Are Us is a kiss of death to CCC.
In each example, CCC is watching you and could reduce your credit limit or cancel your card, according to the story.

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@realjohnboy,

That's one reason I always buy the Booze at Walgreens. The other is price. Actually, the first reason is bogus. I mostly pay cash except for gasoline, some meals, and internet orders.

I would never use a credit card at the Sandia Rez smoke shop. Damn state is likely to try and stick it's greedy tax hand into what I, Sir Walter Raleigh, and most Indians consider a private transaction.

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@realjohnboy,

More importantly are you charging groceries on a regular basis? Huge red flag that you're living beyond your means.

How about regular cash advances at the local casino? Not a good trend in the eyes of the CCC.

But playing devil's advocate here for a moment--just for the sake of discussion--just as your auto insurance company is going to charge you more if you have a lot of speeding tickets or accidents or mostly drive in high risk areas, etc., why shouldn't the CCC mitigate their risk in lending you money if you are engaged in high risk economic behavior?

1 Reply

@realjohnboy,

rjb, Our FICO score is 808; our credit is toooo good. My last credit card application was turned down by Capital One.

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I lend money to banks. How do you check their credit ratings?

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@Foxfyre,

I have no issue with an auto insurance company looking at public records re how many speeding tickets I may have, Fox.
I am liberal politically. You are conservative. I am a bit troubled by the notion that "people" are looking over my shoulder into private transactions. Does that not bother you?

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@realjohnboy,

What job "market" would you recommend in this current economic climate?(other than healthcare)

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@spendius,

Look at their P&L statements. I think they're less liable to play the games of recent years.

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@realjohnboy,

realjohnboy wrote:

I have no issue with an auto insurance company looking at public records re how many speeding tickets I may have, Fox.
I am liberal politically. You are conservative. I am a bit troubled by the notion that "people" are looking over my shoulder into private transactions. Does that not bother you?

You keep saying that you're liberal, yet you keep preaching one of the most conservative doctrines on A2K . Very Happy

No, I don't want people looking over my shoulder into private transactions--I take my personal liberty and unalienable rights quite seriously. Nevertheless we both submit our financial transactions to government scrutiny all the time. The IRS, for instance, can peruse our bank statements or check our books any time it wants to. We give our insurance company permission to audit our sales and/or contracts and payroll taxes to satisfy requirements for work comp and general liability insurance, and if you've never been through a wage/hour audit conducted by the state, count yourself very blessed. Our auto company bases our auto premiums not only on the public record but also on where we garage our vehicle, what we use it for, where we drive it and how far, and other factors. We willingly provide a mortgage company with all manner of personal information and the rate we receive is generally affected by the information we provide.

And every time we use our credit card, we telegraph where we are and, by implication, some information about what we are purchasing or what we are doing.

So it really isn't a matter of the credit card looking over our shoulder at our private transactions. We are freely giving them that information.

The question is, should a credit card company be able to adjust the interest rate to more accurately reflect a perceived risk just as an insurance company or mortgage company adjusts its rates in response to perceived risk?

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"New Unemployment Claims Drop Sharply to 565,000
New jobless claims have dropped sharply to 565,000, the government announced Thursday,"

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/07/09/new-unemployment-claims-drop-sharply/?test=latestnews

But read the details:

"New claims for unemployment insurance plummeted by 52,000 to 565,000, the Labor Department said Thursday. That's significantly below analysts' expectations of 605,000, according to Thomson Reuters. The last time new claims were below 600,000 was week of Jan. 24."

Is the term "plummet" appropriate? 52,000 as compared to 565,000, it doesn't sound like it is "plummeting" to me. Also in the article:

"Still, continuing claims jumped 159,000 to 6.88 million, the highest on records dating from 1967. Analysts had expected 6.71 million continuing claims."

1 Reply

@realjohnboy,

realjohnboy wrote:

so Okie and C.I. walk into a bar together...
CREDIT CARD PROFILING
There was an interesting story on NPR's Marketplace program this evening re how closely your credit card company may be looking at your card use. They are looking for changes in your buying habits.
So, C.I. and Okie walk into a bar and discover a mutual interest in 18th century Flemish painting. They meet again the next evening, and the next, for a couple of drinks and a light supper and talk. They split the bill and each put it on a card. The credit card company (CCC) may freak out. 3 nights in a row in a bar? Warning flags go up. These guys could be stressed out, perhaps worried about losing a job.
H2O typically has shopped at Whole Foods, but now he is buying at Stop/Shop/Bag it Yourself. For CCC, the fact that Whole Foods closed the store convenient to him is irrelevant.
A charge on your credit card for a visit to Foxfyre's Marriage Counselors Are Us is a kiss of death to CCC.
In each example, CCC is watching you and could reduce your credit limit or cancel your card, according to the story.

First of all, I would not be caught dead in a bar with ci, rjb. Also, I don't care about Flemish paintings, ha ha, your story is a bit far fetched.

Your credit card usage, rjb, you are essentially trying to make the case that if somebody contracts me to pay for their bills, I have no right to the information about who I am paying the bills to. That is nonsense. If somebody contracts me for example, as a credit card company, to pay their bills, it becomes as much my business as it is theirs. I am just as much a party to their transactions as they are. And I have a right to determine what terms I pay their bills, based upon what bills they are racking up.

1 Reply

@okie,

Come on Okie. RJB used a really clever metaphor to illustrate his question.

You and I agree that those who lend us money are entitled to know what the money will be used for and also should be able to set the terms for what risk they are willing to assume.

And I think RJB will agree with that once he has thought it through.

1 Reply

@okie,

It "plummeted" for those who still have their jobs. Each job loss means there are usually family members who also suffer. You "compassionate conservatives" no nothing about compassion.

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I have created a new development plan for America, just in case Mr. Barack Obama is interested. he he Razz

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@Foxfyre,

Foxfyre wrote:

Come on Okie. RJB used a really clever metaphor to illustrate his question.

I know. rjb is actually a very nice person / liberal, I appreciate his humor, no offense whatsoever, but probably if he analyzed his postions more closely, may not be as liberal as he thinks.

Quote:

You and I agree that those who lend us money are entitled to know what the money will be used for and also should be able to set the terms for what risk they are willing to assume.

Actually its more involved than merely loaning money, as a credit card company actually pays the business that you bought goods or services from. The company is actually acting as your agent. A loan company would give you the money to buy whatever you want to use it for. A credit card company actually buys whatever you want for you, then you pay them back later.

Quote:

And I think RJB will agree with that once he has thought it through.

I think so as well. Its merely a point of common sense. Once you bring a third party into any transaction that you choose to make, then that third party is as much a part of the transaction as you are, and they have a right to monitor the transactions and to choose whether they wish to enter into future transactions with you, and what terms they want to do it with.

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@cicerone imposter,

cicerone imposter wrote:

It "plummeted" for those who still have their jobs.

It didn't plummet for them, ci, it stayed static. Just a minor correction.

Quote:

Each job loss means there are usually family members who also suffer.

Do Tell, ci.

Quote:

You "compassionate conservatives" no nothing about compassion.

At least we try to take care of our own, ci. Its called "freedom," in case you haven't heard of the concept yet.

1 Reply

@okie,

You take care of your own? Pray tell. Is it similar to your support of all those babies born based on your "pro-life" meme after you intrude into the woman's womb?

How about all those conservatives who have lost their jobs, homes and health insurance? How have you helped them?

1 Reply

@cicerone imposter,

How many people have Marxists helped, or kept from starving, ci?

1 Reply

Okie writes:

Quote:

Actually its more involved than merely loaning money, as a credit card company actually pays the business that you bought goods or services from. The company is actually acting as your agent. A loan company would give you the money to buy whatever you want to use it for. A credit card company actually buys whatever you want for you, then you pay them back later.

Well I see your point, but apart from the most unscrupulous or illegal loan sharks, all lending institutions do ask what you're going to use the money for before they hand over the money and usually require collateral to reduce their risk. Credit card companies, who make only unsecured loans, can't really do that which makes them the most liberal of all lending institutions and puts them at much higher risk than the average loan company or bank. And that explains the higher interest rates.

I am all for the government requiring truth and transparency in all contracts, full disclosure, and eliminating sneaky microscopic print that changes the terms of a contract. I am all for not allowing a lender to arbitrarily raise interests rates on purchases already made unless the borrower consents to that in advance, but I am strongly opposed to the government not allowing lenders to set rates based on the risk they are assuming.

1 Reply

@okie,

okie, You must first show proof that we live in a Marxist country today. Simple logic and common sense seems to escape you - too often.

I doubt very much you understand the meaning of Marxism or it's application in your posts/thinking. Look at any dictionary, and you "might" begin to understand the definition.

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Where is the US economy headed?

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