The Cheddar Path | A blog about economics, politics and personal finance
Credit Card Ridiculousness 2009
Earlier this year, Congress passed the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act in an effort to protect consumers from the oftentimes predatory actions of the credit card corporations. In retaliation, it looks like these corporations are going to start rail-roading their customers even more than they already have. Citibank is going to increase some [...]
Blue Scholars: New Music, New Business Models
I’ve been a fan of Seattle hip-hop duo, Blue Scholars, for awhile now, and what continually impresses me about them is not only the music they create and the shows that they rock, but also the innovative, progressive business models they continue to create in a rapidly changing (and very corporate controlled, often exploitative) music [...]
The Schwab/Credit Union Combo
Several months ago, I opened an online checking account with Charles Schwab, and I have to say, they’ve got a great thing going on. Let me be clear: in these times of financial crises and corporate banking bailouts paid for with tax dollars, I think our privatized, corporate banking system is at the heart of [...]
Nader: How Credit Unions Survived the Crash
Ralph Nader, arguably America’s most visible consumer advocate of the last few decades, wrote a great piece on CounterPunch recently detailing why credit unions seems to be faring much better than the corporate, commercial banks during this economic recession.
The opening passage is pretty insightful and summarizes the situation:
“While the reckless giant banks are shattering like [...]
BofA, The Employee Free Choice Act & Credit Unions
Recently, after receiving $25 billion in federal bailout funds, Bank of America hosted a meeting with members of the business community and conservative activists to discuss sending “large contributions” to groups trying to defeat the government’s proposed Employee Free Choice Act, which would make it easier for workers to join unions. So, Bank of America [...]
Michael Shuman & The Small-Mart Revolution
Economist and lawyer Michael H. Shuman has written extensively on many of the subjects discussed in this site, such as social entrepreneurship, progressive philanthropy and community based economics. Some of my favorite articles of his are:
“Profits for Justice” and “Why Do Progressive Foundations Give Too Little To Too Many?”
Recently, Shuman has shifted his focus to [...]
New Resources SF
Peter Liu has started up a local bank in San Francisco, CA called New Resource. The bank has a “green focus” in that it targets and invests in green sustainable businesses.
However, the bank has been growing successfully on its own through its normal every day banking functions (savings and checking accounts, etc.), so [...]