Banking
How long have you been with your bank? When was the last time you switched all your accounts to another bank?
If you’re like most Australians the answer will either be “never” or “years ago”.
And there’s your reason why bank service will never be quite up to scratch. It’s us. We’re bank suckers. We talk about how banks treat us, and the poor level of service, but that’s all we do. Talk.
Continue reading "Rebelling against banks can make them lift their game" »
Before the election, in the May 2007 budget in reply speech, Rudd the Regulator stated “I have already announced our intention in government of adopting a simple principle: no new regulation imposed on business unless an existing regulation is withdrawn”.
So how is Mr Rudd going with this promise? According to the Federal Register of Legislative Instruments on the Comlaw website, in 2008 – 4699 new legislative instruments were added and in 2009 till the end of September – 3699 new legislative instruments were added.
That’s 8398 new forms of select legislative instruments, statutory rules and regulation.
Continue reading "Rudd the regulator seeking reform for reform’s sake" »
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Carl Palmer says:
Me Re debt – I said “IF our debt – for whatever reason, continues to climb” AND that – “surplus and not debt is where we need to be”. The fact that it is budgeted is irrelevant a loss is still a loss. Re unemployment maybe – there are lots… Read more »
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Pierpoint says:
Cripes, touch of the politicians, there JAN - managed not to answer me one little question at all! Jeez! Happy to answer yours, but. I prefer to have both money in the bank *and* debt too. And I do. Simple really, and many people do it. Here’s how. There’s the… Read more »
A few days ago, I was part of a group of 6 economists who wrote an open letter arguing for a new Inquiry into the financial system—a so-called “Son of Wallis, Daughter of Campbell.”
Put simply, so much had changed in our understanding of finance, banking and economics and so much ‘on the fly’ policy had been undertaken, that surely stepping back and reviewing our policies above the political fray would be a good idea.
We had hoped that this might get a little media and perhaps push the government into putting an inquiry onto the agenda. Our letter was a long and not particularly reader-friendly affair. But towards the end we asked the following:
Continue reading "Mad furore surrounding the so-called “people’s bank”" »
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Ben Payne says:
Banking is the most influential and least understood industry in society today – we all take money for granted, but few realise how it is controlled and its fundamental principals. Our entire free market, incentivised, profit driven corporate system is completely screwed. Humans are now second class citizens, while the… Read more »
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MikeM says:
As YT alluded to, the Commonwealth used to have a People’s bank; so did the states of NSW, Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia. Two of them collapsed, a third almost did and after privatisation and float, the Commonwealth Bank ended up eventually swallowing the other two. The triggering argument… Read more »
LIKE darning socks, car-pooling and drinking instant coffee, bank bashing went out of favour when we were all getting rich during “the great neo-liberal experiment”. Now, from the top office in the land down, this wholesome pursuit is making a comeback.
It’s not that the banks ever lost their talent for bastardry. It’s just that for a decade or so it has been suppressed by competition – from the likes of Aussie and Wizard – and by the buoyant economy. That $140 annual account-keeping fee didn’t look so bad when your credit card was in the black and the value of your house had doubled in the past two years. But with competition to the Big Four now all but wiped out, leaving the Westpac, Commonwealth, NAB and ANZ as the last saviours of our financial system (just ask them), the bastards inside can once again be unleashed.
The Commonwealth took one for the team this week when it raised variable home loan rates 0.1 percentage points to 5.74 per cent. It was the first mortgage rate increase by the banks since last year but won’t, unfortunately, be the last.
Continue reading "Bastard banks making a comeback after the boom" »
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kevin phillips says:
Why do banks charge fees (12 billion dollars worth per year) when they are already making a profit from charging more interest on loans that what they pay for the ,money? Answer: same reason as why a dog licks their genitals; because it feels good to them. Read more »
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Kevin Phillips says:
Surprise surprise! The banks have manipulated the financial system in Australia to emerge as the dominant providers of finance to the masses and we all just continue to accept the banks shoving the red hot poker in to us where it hurts! Banks always have and always will give Australian… Read more »
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