In our increasingly detached world, where folks spend more time staring at little screens in their hands than interacting with people, the things that create real customer relationships are as simple as ever.
"It would be hard to imagine a more thorough rebuke of how America's Securities and Exchange Commission ... tries to discipline financial firms," the Schumpeter blog says of Judge Rakoff's rejection of the SEC-Citigroup settlement.
An OWS subgroup discusses what would constitute a truly "alternative bank," how much could be borrowed from the credit union, community bank and mutual models, and how to take it several steps beyond.
In recent years we've seen unintended consequences from the burden current regulations have put on America's biggest job creators: new public companies.
Banks are going to need to make hard decisions to exit some traditional businesses. The question is how to do it to maximize what you get at the exit, and in such a way that remaining businesses can thrive.
Imposing fees risks further alienation of consumers, raising the stakes on the "dare" to consumers to find other ways to meet their financial needs. And there are new and better ways for banks to make money.
Harp II will only be an indirect help to housing. Addressing the challenges of negative equity and shadow inventory will require new thinking on the strategic use of principal reductions.
