Mark Winston Griffith

A New Day in Banking?

Now we're talking.

In a sign, hopefully, of things to come, Democrats are seemingly more aggressive about critiquing the American economy and, well...American capitalism. Although he was certainly preaching to the choir, the new chair of the senate banking committee, Christopher Dodd, speaking at a Rainbow Push economic summit, decried the injustice of high cost financial products targeted at low-income communities. As reported by Reuters, Dodd cited payday lending and high credit card fees and juxtaposed them with the high salaries and bonuses being paid to Wall Street executives. "History is going to look back and wonder what's going on in the country that rewarded people with bonuses of this magnitude while so many of our fellow citizens are struggling", Dodd declared.

Hopefully this kind of talk is part of a new political will aimed at reigning in years of unchecked abuses by credit providers and debt servicers. What is necessary, however, is to expand the current debate on pay day lending, which is viewed as reprehensible by many policy makers, but only when it is targeted at members of the military. Payday lending is bad, period. It should be outlawed everywhere, whether it's found in Fort Dix or in Fort Greene, Brooklyn (where, incidentally, New York State law has already made it illegal).

Either way, Dodd's speech bodes well for those of us looking for any semblance of change in the financial services industry. Let's hope his leadership of the senate banking committee will match his rhetoric.

UPDATE (1/11/07 10:08am): Senator Chirs Dodd has announced his presidential bid.

Mark Winston Griffith: Author Bio | Other Posts
Posted at 4:24 PM, Jan 10, 2007 in
Permalink | Email to Friend | Comments (3)