first democratic party debate. Discuss

[JohnRoberts]

I'm asking because  we all know that fees charged by a company aren't necessarily directly related to actual expenses, and after accounting and tweaking it's all sort of a gray area.  So I honestly have a hard time seeing how banking regulation yields large costs for the banks which in turn have to be passed on to the consumer.

We're talking about a sector where they've been given, as a whole, monopoly on the creation of monetary wealth (out of nothing), all while being allowed to invest stored assets. Since they can't be trusted, just like any other capitalist entity, regulation seems entirely fair. And since it's the backbone of the economy I don't see another way out of it barring allowing them to fail so that more responsible banks are allowed to thrive.

I have better things to than research for you, but it is public information how many bodies the big banks have had to hire to deal with regulatory requirements.

It's not that you have to research it for me, it's that I don't trust that you're right. Having a news blurb pass you by while you're doing something else isn't the same thing as an in-depth analysis. It doesn't even resemble analysis. It's just accepting whatever a media outlet tells you.

Understood...  I'd like to think that I am not easily swayed by "opinion leaders" on TV.  I have been reading the Wall Street Journal daily for over 30 years, plus a few local papers along the way. I have a strong BS meter and alway take comments with a grain of salt. The better TV channels at least go through the motions of presenting both sides of news with political consequences, and it's easy to tell who is parroting the talking points du jour and who is sharing thoughtful inspection.

Why wouldn't someone complain about regulation on a pro-capitalist media outlet? Of course banks want less regulation so they can get away with more crap, and of course the intelligent thing to do is to charge regular customers and blame the state for those costs in the hope that the customers will elect representatives who will deregulate. To what degree the regulations are actually bad for society as a whole and specific groups of consumers isn't clear at all judging from the odd complaint by a banker.

Yes, there are strong philosophical differences between the two political parties. Both extreme views are wrong. Vibrant and growing capitalism requires some regulation to prevent excesses. What I disagree with is how much more regulation we need from here. Too much regulation has consequences too.

My judgements are formed from decades of inspection, not parroting some drive-by spokesman's comments.  Of course I could always be wrong but don't think I was in this case.

JR