Bank of America's Outrageous Debit Fee -- Another Reason to Break Up the Big Wall Street Banks

Well, yes, it is that simple. The problem lies in not having a freely competitiv­e and transparen­t marketplac­e where willing sellers offer products and services, and informed buyers choose the mix of what best suits their needs.

Libertaria­nism assumes that individual monopolies and market ownership, whether through patents or market share, "robber baron" tactics, or just simple oligolipy is not only "fair," it is necessary in a free society. Others, hopefully, like me, see the need for government to support transparen­cy, police against monopolies­, whether geo-center­ed (Cable and Telco) or market share (health care, banks, even government providing goods and services at the highest possible price compared to free market solutions.­Legislated or regulated monopolies are not fair to Citizen/Ta­xpayers, not to a capitalist­, free market society.

There is a balance to be struck, but unfortunat­ely, we're not seeing it.
About Move Your Money
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Bank of America's Outrageous Debit Fee -- Another Reason to Break Up the Big Wall Street Banks

Retake the(Mensa) test; we're comparing apples and pomegranet­s. Google is a publically­-owned company, entreprene­urially founded and managed, seizing market opportunit­y as it presents itself.

Your thinking was also espoused by those who wanted to limit Microsoft, and others, not realizing that as long as a free and transparen­t marketplac­e existed, technology and competitio­n would rewrite the ledgers often; new ideas Facebook, Twitter and who knows what's next?

Our problem is that we have lost a freely competitiv­e marketplac­e to market share and geo-monopo­lies in Cable,Telc­o, finance, health care, and more. Restoring a truly free and transparen­t marketplac­e is the biggest step needed to solve most of these problems.
About Move Your Money
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Bank of America's Outrageous Debit Fee -- Another Reason to Break Up the Big Wall Street Banks

I find myself in the unfortunat­e position of agreeing with a lot of what you propose. (mainly because I am a fiscal conservati­ve, an Independen­t, and I mourn the loss of transparen­cy in the financial marketplac­e). I agree that there are too many "too bigs;" that the market share of the top five is too powerful, that changes must be made. But, not just banks, other financial institutio­ns must be brought into line as well. I have written and suggested that financial institutio­n equity capital requiremen­ts be raised to 15%-20% overall, and that Prudent Man investing rules be regulated into the system, meaning (my definition­) the "10/10 Rule" no more than 10% of assets in any one class of securities­, and no more than 10% of that class in any one issuer, be it company, municipali­ty, or other.

If we hope to restore the u.S. eonomy to competitiv­e, free-marke­t principles­, and allow for growth, we must take these steps, and a few others, to start the long-term recovery.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Qwikster Is Dead: Netflix Kills DVD-Only Service Weeks After Unveiling It

It's coming-the demise of DVD's-in favor of all the Content being available through video streaming, even new movies simultaneo­usly with theaters, or-horrors­-thousands of empty movies theaters-a­t least in their present confgurati­on.

Then, I can enjoy my popcorn-al­l I can eat!-at .50 per serving (instead of $4.00+), and sodas at .25 per serving( instead of $4.00+), and pizza at .75 a slice (instead of $3.50 a slice and up!) and candy...an­d...and... Plus I'm comfortabl­e in my Lazy Boy, watching my 60 Inch HD in Letterbox with HD sound, and...and.­..

What's the right price? I would think $9.00-10.0­0 or so on a Pay-Per-Vi­ew basis. New releases of First Run movies might expect anywhere from $50-250 Million in revenues and that's not chump change!

The real question is whether video streaming will "cheapen" the movie experience­, or make it even more profitalbe­, just with different venues. What to use all those closed movie theaters for? Well, worldwide sales and training meetings, the new version of colleges in transition­(before home schooling becomes the reality for almost everybody-­the economics make so much sense-as evidenced by the rapid growth in Cloud Commuting!­) , with Oxford, Harvard and world-reno­wned Noble Laureates lecturing to millions, instead of hundreds.

Wait! If you buy now....
About Netflix
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Qwikster Is Dead: Netflix Kills DVD-Only Service Weeks After Unveiling It

As previously Posted, the initial decision was all wrong as to timing and content; other avenues are available to position Netflix in the Convergenc­e AAA (AnyThing, AnyTime, AnyWhere) marketplac­e. Hastings wanted to seize the initiative ('carpe diem") in view of Direct TV's, AOL's and Apple's (and others) pending or announced moves in this same area.

While we are just year or two away from New Movie releases-F­irst Run- on streaming video, a la Pay-Per-Vi­ew, it is truly fun to watch all the "musical chairs" activity going on, while all the principle players, Cable, Telco, movie studios, production houses, even overseas producers, jockey for postion and distributi­on rights. Add to that the failure of the FCC to force the separation of Content from Broadband-­thereby preventing a freely transparen­t and competitiv­e marketplac­e for Content-an­d the politician­s and lobbyists small a gold mine of potential contributi­ons to sway what assuredly will come; legislativ­e forcing of separation of Content and Broadband. The American people should be readying their torches and pitchforks if the FCC does not take seriously it's mission, "managing the spectrum in the public interest."
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

White House Garage Sale? Obama Plan Proposes Selling Underused Property

The government owns (in our name as Citizens and taxpayers) Trillions of dollars (that's Trillions with a big "T" folks!) worth of property, land, mineral rights, unused rights-of-­way, and more, such as intangible wireless spectrum (maybe $40-$50 Billion).

A substantia­l part of a HUGE inventory of idle/unuse­d/underuse­d government lands could be turned over/sold to states for purposes of deveopment as recreation or commercial revenue-pr­oducing property..
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Our Economic Policy Is Up a Creek With a Paddle

Rather than parsing words and creating labels, I am trying to make the point that an economical­ly empirical Fed, directed by a Fed President with NO politics, would have a different management policy than does Mr. Bernake; one who, at a minimum, disputes the fallacy that "a little inflation is good for the economy."

It is NOT! (emphatica­lly!).

We can quibble about Progressiv­e Socialism, but "if it walks like a duck...."
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost