What Professor Fried doesn't understand (or has a "cognitive bias" to ignore) is that such abuses are a natural result of the lack of regulation. You are always going to have people who try to test the limits of just how much they can get away with. Financial institutions and corporations are no different.

"Predatory" is a good word to describe the kind of activity we have seen in the last few years in regard to consumer finance. The people who have designed the financial rates and terms in credit card agreements know full well the effect that fees and interest rates have on the ability to pay off principal balances. Couple this with knowledge of psychological cognitive biases, and what would otherwise be a free market becomes one in which one side has far more knowledge (the lender) than does the other party to a contract (the consumer). Traditionally, such contracts could be voided due to unconscionability.

Alas, I am not sure our courts are willing to employ such radical remedies anymore. And the lawyers representing the consumer in these kinds of cases will usually only use this legal theory in a "Hail Mary pass" type situation.

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following the classical conservative position that people should be free to make as many choices as possible

As a person who leans libertarian, I'd have to say that this statement is true of the libertarians also since we all profess to be intelligent enough to make smart choices.

Certainlly, crack dealers are reprehensible and I don't know why people keep getting hooked on crack over and over again.

Regardless of how stupid the crack addicts or crack addicts are, laws won't fix the problem.

Specifically, Ralph Nader coined the phrase "unsafe at any speed" and I'd like to say that crack is "unsafe at any level of use."

if you believe that, then it's obvious why crack shouldn't be regulated by law because the business model they're based on is inheriently toxic and can't be fixed.

if everyone paid their crack on time, the business model would collapse and the user/dealer backbone would have to be financed with user fees instead.

I know that liberals don't like abstinence, but I was raised to believe that "crack is unsafe at any user rate" and I hope that others learn that too-- because congress can't protect ya, even if the "rate is low!"

The reason credit cards companies have been so profitable in the first place can be traced to some of their predatory practices, the bait first becomes "educated" when going off to college. Students are lured with credit lines higher than the average working person could get. Oh, BTW, they probably just assume that if a son or daughter gets into credit trouble, mom and dad will happily bail them out. Communicating with credit card companies required extra skill and awareness. There is so much "fine print" that can easily trap you, much more excessive than using a discount coupon for a restaurant and finding out it is not valid on Saturday nights. Misinterpretaion and mix-ups easily arise, even though some people may finally be listening and getting the message.

I carry a couple credit cards. In fact nearly everything I buy is via credit card. I pay them off in full every month. I would sure hate to see the do-gooders ban them.

if you remember iran contra, you know who was pushing drugs and I shake my head every time I see nancy reagan... she was doing the "just say no" campaign while her husband was up to his neck in drug trafficing.

so, is the government really a positive influence?

if the iran contra thing didn't happen, and if the feds didn't keep filling the jails with addicts to keep the "prison indutrial complex going," i'd have hope...

thus, like loans and credit cards, the drug abuse problem requires personal will to overcome it...

as far as I can tell, and based on chomsky, I think that the the feds are using drug abuse in america as a smoke screen to continue the fumigation efforts in columbia which actually, according to chomsky, protect oil extraction.

such accusations have made this lefty open his eyes and wonder if the left and progressives are wasting their energy on the wrong things.

my mother was talking to a neighbor and the line that worked was: "interest is like buying one barbie doll and being required to pay for two."

so if kids hear the right story, they'll smarten up!

If I understand your position on Credit Cards, it's that people are worthless and weak, and in a sufficiently pure and will driven society, they would not exist.

no, I don't consider people worthless or weak or else I wouldn't have high expectations for them. in my world, "once bitten, twice shy." women, for example, are starting to leave abusive men quickly; they don't stay around for more.

This may also contain a hidden attitude that the worthless and weak deserve what they get.

people are strong enough to say: "once, shame on you, twice, shame on me."

Alternately, I think your argument might be that Credit Cards should be abolished entirely and people should just pay as they go, or at least negotiate loans, mortgages and lines of credit on a case by case basis.

this is a nice summary! when I was growing up, we called it "deferred gratification" and financial planning. anything else in my mind is an orgy and I'm not sure why you'd want the left to create problems for itself by embracing anything else?

Hmmmm. Did I use the word luddite, already?

most of my friends wouldn't say that and, in fact, I use all the types of credit which you talked about to "make money" not lose money.

example 1: if I've put too much money in my CD's, and I'm short on cash, I take out a loan in order to pay off my bills. I ultimately pay just a dollar or two in interest since it usually takes me a few weeks to get "cash positive" and debt free again.

The reason why I do this is because, otherwise, I'd lose 90 days worth of CD interest. Additionally, I do these transactions electronically since my bank has no limitations on internet banking-- for example, I send them signed agreements by email!

example 2: I bought a piano using a 12 month interest free credit card; in the meantime, and until the bill is due, I'll be making money by keeping the cash owed in a CD.

Sadly, no matter how I come at them, I find it difficult to see your views on the matter having much relevance to the real world as the rest of us understand it. I respect your right to your opinions. But I have to wonder as to their applicability.

well, just read the book "richdad, poordad" and you'll see where I'm coming from. I don't view the world like you do in terms of being smart and/or stupid but rather in terms of habits. the richdad books talk about the sort of habits that produce wealth and introduces a cashflow game to help you get results. stephen covey also talkes about habits and how they can help you.

while you suggest my position is eclectic, just go to websites like CCCS (http://www.cccsatl.org/) consumer credit counseling services) and you'll see the same sort of stuff I'm writing about. go to google, and do a search on "credit conseling," and you'll find lots of information about "controlling your finances."

I do think that the libertarian philosophy is a good one but I don't see why anybody would want to invite the government into their lives to solve a problem they can handle...

you seem to be some sort of mystical libertarian.

I'd have to study what liberarian philsophopy is, but, in general, I love being philsophical and americans are known not to be philosophical. my best friends tend to be european since they tend to think of the world in philosophical terms.

Whenever someone praises the free market, I keep my hand on my wallet.