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Mike Konczal

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Mike Konczal (who has also blogged under the pseudonym Mike Rorty) is a financial engineer living in San Francisco. Originally from Chicago, he enjoys finance, economics, sociology, whiskey and center-left politics. He blogs here and at the rortybomb blog. He can be contacted by email here. The views expressed here are Mike’s own, and do not reflect the opinions or views of any of his employers or The Atlantic Monthly.
Barney Frank and Financial Reform in Newsweek

Barney Frank and Financial Reform in Newsweek

Is Barney Frank our best shot at financial reform?… More »

Should the US Reform Interchange Fees on Credit Cards?

Should the US Reform Interchange Fees on Credit Cards?

When we swipe our credit cards, the cards swipe some of our money. How?… More »

How Credit Cards Rob the Poor to Spoil the Rich

How Credit Cards Rob the Poor to Spoil the Rich

I recently had the chance to catch a preview of "The Card Game," a Frontline special on credit cards, which airs tonight at 9pm ET (check local listings). Lowell Bergman talks with a wide range of financial insiders and regulators and describes the changing nature of the credit card industry over the past 30 years. During the hour, Bergman speaks with Tim Geithner, former Providian CEO Shailesh Mehta, Elizabeth Warren, Christopher Dodd, and many others. He…… More »

Should You Trust Visa to Teach You About Credit Cards?

Should You Trust Visa to Teach You About Credit Cards?

Visa is using a football website to teach customers about credit cards. Huh?… More »

Jones v. Harris And Mutual Fund Fees

Jones v. Harris And Mutual Fund Fees

Should the Supreme Court prevent mutual funds from charging individual investors higher fees?… More »

Consumer Financial Protection for Our Military

Consumer Financial Protection for Our Military

The GOP is behind strict consumer financial protection, for the military.… More »

Bad Reasons to Oppose the Consumer Protection Agency

Bad Reasons to Oppose the Consumer Protection Agency

Have you heard the rumor that the Consumer Financial Protection Agency would jack up interest rates and put a stranglehold on job growth after the recession? If you did, you might be able to trace it back to David S. Evans, of the University of Chicago Law School, and Joshua D. Wright, of George Mason University School of Law, who wrote the study The Effect of the Consumer Financial Protection Agency Act of 2009 on Consumer Credit. (h/t Volokh Conspiracy.) In it,…… More »

Student Loans are the New Indentured Servitude

Student Loans are the New Indentured Servitude

The Wall Street Journal ran a post over the weekend about a new credit crunch among low income borrowers, noting it is now 'payback time.' What they didn't go into is that their primary interviewee is drowning not on expensive cars loans but student loans. This former student's debt is far from extraordinary. It is, in fact, tragically ordinary, as student loans have become the 21st century version of indentured servitude.… More »

Scariest Chart of the Weekend, Labor Edition

Scariest Chart of the Weekend, Labor Edition

If you want good news about the job market, don't read newspapers. It seems that every weekend gives us another visual way of displaying how bad the things have gotten for job seekers. Check out this graph by the New York Times:… More »

Did Regulation Cause the Financial Crisis?

Did Regulation Cause the Financial Crisis?

No.… More »

The Next Wave of Financial Innovation

The Next Wave of Financial Innovation

Will financial innovation stop the next crisis before it begins?… More »

The Failure of Bankruptcy Reform

The Failure of Bankruptcy Reform

Why bankruptcy reform failed and what we should do to fix it.… More »

How to Understand the Next Mortgage Crisis

How to Understand the Next Mortgage Crisis

More mortgage delinquents aren't catching up. Here's why that matters.… More »

Robots and the Future of Unemployment

Robots and the Future of Unemployment

Tomorrow's machines: Boring, efficient, and really, really good at your job.… More »

Should Community Banks Support the Consumer Financial Protection Agency?

Should Community Banks Support the Consumer Financial Protection Agency?

So I'm in favor of a Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA). However I'm also of the opinion that our largest banks are too large and could stand to shrink. Are these in conflict? Our knee-jerk reaction should be that regulation functions as another barrier to entry, another fee that has to be paid, and can most easily be paid by the biggest players. However I think the advantages to clearing the playing field for the small versus the big player outweighs this…… More »

How Health Care is Like Zombie Insurance

How Health Care is Like Zombie Insurance

What does end-of-the-world insurance have to do with health care?… More »

How to Understand High Frequency Trading

How to Understand High Frequency Trading

What is high frequency trading? And why is everybody afraid of it?… More »

Shadow Banking: What It Is, How it Broke, and How to Fix It

Shadow Banking: What It Is, How it Broke, and How to Fix It

A primer on the shadow banking system.… More »

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