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Credit Card Lending to Sub-Prime Customers Climbs 41 Percent in One Year

Credit card issuers are once again aggressively pursuing sub-prime customers. The National Consumer Credit Trends Report from credit-reporting firm Equifax shows that lending to sub-prime borrowers rose 41 percent in 2011 compared to year-ago levels. In addition, 1.1 million new bank cards were issued last year to sub-prime borrowers, a four-year high. The growth in the sub-prime category was much greater than the overall bank credit card growth of 18 percent in 2011. Highest Since 2008 New sub...

Economist to NY Federal Reserve: ‘Nothing Good Goes On In This Place’

Economist Robert Wenzel edits and publishes the EconomicPolicyJournal.com Web site, where he regularly takes Fed policies to task. Nonetheless, the New York Federal Reserve Bank recently invited him to speak. Below is a condensed version of his remarks. Thank you very much for inviting me to speak here at the New York Federal Reserve Bank. Intellectual discourse is, of course, extraordinarily valuable in reaching truth. In this sense, I welcome the opportunity to discuss my views on the economy...

Credit Ratings in Capital Regulation—Are They Really Going Away?

Almost two years ago, on the heels of—if not still amidst—the worst financial crisis since the early 1930s, President Barack Obama signed the “Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010” (Dodd-Frank) into law. Given the long-repeated chain of failed legislative and regulatory responses to previous crises, one might well wonder whether this massive 848-page piece of legislation helps us or not. In one material area, the Dodd-Frank law included provisions dealing with credit rating “...

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