There's a front page diary right now about the McCains, and the fact they have credit cards. The debate rages on the thread there about the appropriateness in political debate of this level of granular detail about the candidates' personal lives. (Most people are either simply fer it or agin it--I personally believe {Ms Teen SC reference conscious} that we've been gifted such a wonderfully flaw opponent that sticking to our beliefs is a luxury in addition to a necessity.) Leaving that issue aside, it prompted me to ramble and try to clarify some my thoughts about corporate regulation in recent history, and the biggest issue no ever talks about--the asterisk culture.
Some of these ideas and examples are sparked from an interview on Fresh Air I heard about six months ago. I can't remember the name of the book. If anyone knows what I'm talking about please post so I can link it.
UPDATE: Gotcha Capitalism By Bob Sullivan
To put it quite simply, I dare you to explain your cable bill. Or cell phone bill. What are those things??
No one ever says anything, because no one wants to seem themselves as the crotchety old man rocking the Sanzabelts and white shoes. It's only five dollars, after all. But it's everywhere. And as the administration has worked so hard to gut all regulatory and oversight agencies, it's gotten worse. It's hard to quantify, but it sure feels like it's gotten worse the past several years.
It's a problem. Not because I resent "the man" taking my money, but because it's not how the free market is supposed to work. The free market is based on informed decisions. How much will your cable cost after your first three months? How much does a hotel room reallycost? A concert ticket? Go ahead, be an informed consumer. I dare you. This is not (solely) plaintive whining. This is a breakdown in our economic infrastructure.
It's a race to the bottom. Even companies are trapped. You can't advertise the true price of your room, your flight, your broadband service--you'll be shoved aside by other companies who are basically lying. And it's only partly their job to fix it. The role of the state is to provide fair rules that everyone can play by. This is what we learned from the mortgage mess--when the foxes are in charge of the hen house, you very have happy foxes for a very short time.
And make no mistake--after we clean up mortgages, credit cards are the next wave of bad debt to rock our banking industry. People are not stopping eating and working just because of the price of gas and food. They punt--either by getting trapped in the eternal cycle of payday loans, or swiping a card at the grocery store. And they can only do that for so long.