Amazon Terminates Affiliates in a Bid to Intimidate State Lawmakers

smitchell — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 17:00:00 -0600

Amazon is treating its Colorado sales affiliates as "human shields," to use the words of one Denver Post columnist, in what has become a aggressive campaign to overturn a new Colorado law and scare other states away from extending sales taxes to large online retailers.

Big Banks Want You Back

smitchell — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 17:12:24 -0600

Those who wonder whether public anger at big banks and the Move Your Money sentiment sweeping the country is substantial enough to impact these giants need only look at the banks' own marketing over the last few weeks to see the proof.

In a spate of new advertisements and PR maneuvers, the nation's largest banks are working hard to win us back. They are, in effect, standing on our doorstep, flowers in hand, trying to convince us they've changed.

They're using words like "local" and "community," because they know quite well that there's a rival for our affections. A recent Zogby poll found that nearly one in ten Americans had moved at least some of their business to small banks or credit unions.

New York Times Maps Bank Concentration by County

newrulesstaff — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 07:51:13 -0600

Noting that "despite the power of big banks, small institutions still dominate huge swaths of the country and hold nearly half of bank deposits overall," the New York Times, using data supplied by Institutional Risk Analytics, published this revealing map, which shows the share of deposits in each county held by banks over and under $65 billion in assets.

Putting Wal-Mart's Green Moves in Context

smitchell — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 07:18:58 -0600

What journalists and even environmentalists so often fail to do in reporting on Wal-Mart's sustainability announcements is to provide some context.

Context is everything. Consider Wal-Mart's latest announcement: It will push some of the factories that supply its stores to cut their greenhouse gas emissions. That's a good thing in and of itself, but what happens when we measure it against Wal-Mart's overall impact on the production of goods?

Move Your Money and Save

smitchell — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 09:33:05 -0600

This article was originally published on Huffington Post as part of a partnership with their Move Your Money campaign.

Bigger banks were suppose to lower costs for consumers. That was the promise made repeatedly in 1994 and again in 1999, when Congress dismantled laws that had long restricted the size and scope of banks, ushering in a wave of mergers that left the industry dominated by a few financial giants.

Just seven years after the Glass-Steagall Act was abolished in 1999, the fees consumers were paying on their checking and savings accounts had skyrocketed, rising from $21 billion to $36 billion. (And these amounts do not include credit card and ATM fees, which also shot up.)

Today, new data show that big banks still impose much higher costs on their customers than small banks and credit unions do. Not only are fees lower, but several studies have found that smaller banks and credit unions pay higher interest on savings accounts.

Moving our money to these local institutions could save us billions of dollars a year.

Chart: Consumer Services Available at Community Banks

smitchell — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 10:42:46 -0600

Banks and Small Business Lending

smitchell — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 07:58:23 -0600

This article was originally published on Huffington Post as part of a partnership with their Move Your Money campaign.

Banking consolidation was constricting the flow of loans to small businesses long before the recession. So it's no surprise that the money taxpayers have spent over the last sixteen months shoring up big banks has done nothing to free up credit for small businesses.

To do that, we need to focus on expanding the capacity of small banks to lend to local businesses that have, as a result of the recession and through no fault of their own, become riskier investments. A key issue is whether the Senate will quickly reauthorize a critical loan-guarantee program.

Financial System Even More Vulnerable Now, Warns Inspector General

smitchell — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 09:11:11 -0600

The latest report from TARP Inspector General Neil Barofsky warns:

"Even if TARP saved our financial system from driving off a cliff back in 2008, absent meaningful reform, we are still driving on the same winding mountain road, but this time in a faster car."

Why Does Congress want me to Shun my Local Bookstore and Shop Online Instead?

smitchell — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 16:05:27 -0600

By exempting internet retailers like Amazon.com from collecting sales taxes, lawmakers provide a substantial financial incentive for people to bypass local businesses and shop online instead.

Over the years, there have been four primary arguments made in favor of this inequitable policy. None of them stand up.

Move Your Borrowing Along with Your Money

smitchell — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 12:51:47 -0600

This article was originally published on Huffington Post as part of a partnership with their Move Your Money campaign.

As we start down the path of breaking up with the big banks and defending our own economic interests and that of our communities, we should think about the whole range of financial services we use.

We need to give thought to both the saving and lending sides of a bank. Each is crucial. On the savings side, community-based financial institutions need our deposits much more than the big banks do. But to be profitable community banks need to convert those deposits into loans.