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The Dangers of Derivatives

There are way too many complex derivatives products and they are often used to gamble for profits, instead of being used responsibly for hedging. Also, there are some highly leveraged and naked securities, which have such a high loss potential they never should have been legal in the first place. [...]

Fixing Health Care

The cost of our health care is unsustainable, considering the number of people retiring and others using Medicare services. If we don’t come up with some sound financial solutions, Medicare may become insolvent. Plus, there are an estimated 45 million people who are uninsured and medical costs are the single largest cause of personal bankruptcies. [...]

Credit Cardholders Bill of Rights Act of 2008

Representative Carolyn Maloney, a Democrat from NY, introduced the Credit Cardholders Bill of Rights Act of 2008.  Maloney is the Chairwoman of the House Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit Subcommittee.  The bill of rights is supposed to protect cardholders against arbitrary interest rate increases, prohibit excessive fees and require Congress to provide better oversight of the [...]

Bankruptcy Reform on the Agenda

Bankruptcy Reform Backfires on Banks

According to a Bloomberg article on November 8, 2007, the bankruptcy reform lobbied for in 2005 by a group of banks, may be contributing significantly to the rapid increase in foreclosures.  Bloomberg’s contention is that since it’s now much harder to discharge credit card debt, strapped consumers are instead walking away from their [...]