“This [rescue] is a form of state directed capitalism which is more akin to the Chinese model than it is to our own.”
Indeed, it was never in much doubt that the Chinese would bail out their own banking system in the event of a crisis – and they did when faced with triangular debts (the model for our own, latest crash?) and non-performing loans (NPLs) via the set up of the asset management companies (AMCs) and Central Huijin. Read more »
By 1857, Tappan was able to find and appraise the creditworthiness of a single businessperson within a population of 29 million 7 days of a request. The system managed identity on a case by case basis, while doing a volume business.
The marketplace was disciplined through surveillance and the marketplace had a memory. New business relationships could be started without as much fear of default.
Tappan was able to do this by a network of independent agents, often local lawyers, insiders andor postmasters who had already started collecting debts for a fee for distant creditors. By 1846, Tappan had 679 local informatnts; by 1851, his network had reached 2,000.
There has been a heated debate over suspending mark-to-market accounting rules that require a bank to report financial instruments on its balance sheet at the price they would fetch on an open market. But is the whole debate just a waste of time?
Critics of the rules say that they cause banks to undervalue assets that have a real value based on fire-sale prices in a frozen market. “A vast majority of mortgages, corporate bonds, and structured debts are still performing. But because the market is frozen, the prices of these assets have fallen below their true value. Firms that are otherwise solvent must price assets to fire-sale values. Not only does this make them ripe for forced liquidation, but it chases away capital and leads to a further decline in asset values,” wrote Brian Wesbury of First Trust Portfolios L.P. on the Journal’s editorial pages.
Why not contract with someone to shame them into giving your money back?
The Globe and Mail has as an interesting article called Dressed to embarass: Spanish collection agency sends out men in top hats and tails to humilate debtors into paying up.
It seems a collection agency with over 600 employees in Spain and Portugal called El Cobrador del Frac (English: The Debt Collector in Top Hat and Tails) collects about 70 per cent of the debts they buy at a discount from individuals and businesses
“We send collectors in uniform and collectors without uniform. It depends on how the debtor reacts. If we need to do it to collect a debt, we send a collector wearing top hat and tails, so his debt attracts more attention,” he said.
They first start with a telephone call, a facsimile and only resort to sending someone out when there is a refusal to settle.
The agency swears that they always stay within the limits of the law but that does not stop them from being very creative.
For example:
…seeking to reclaim a large debt for an unpaid wedding banquet, the company even resorted to phoning guests who had attended to demand they pay their share of the bill. The red-faced bride and groom soon coughed up…
My oh My…isn’t his a clever idea for a way to raise funds for a national franchisee association? Or the next big thing as a franchise concept?
Lots of possibilities here, folks:
Q: “Why does that man in the funny hat keep following us?”
A: “Don’t worry, son. He’s just been sent from a loser, m—–f—-r franchisee.”
Q: “Daddy, what’s a m—–f—-r?”
A: …
It seems using shame is a very old Spanish tradition in debt collection. They will simply follow around the president of the company for as long as it takes: as he lines up to catch a coffee at Starbucks, sits next down to him at the cafeteria, at home on the weekend, public events with the family, etc.
Now let’s be fair: Don’t forget to anyone that profits from the status quo in Big Franchising. We don’t want to limit our unfettered capitalism to just these examples:
Of course, everything would be recorded on a digital camera, live streamed and archived on a YouTube channel. To protect the innocent and the initially recalcitrant.
Perfectly legal, Highly effective :: Doable Tomorrow.
Maybe it’d at least slow down crap AU lawsuits heaped on franchisee advocates which are designed drive them into bankruptcy and silence.
I make a good living, but am far from rich. My 17 year-old son is starting to look at colleges and careers. Any advice for me as a parent to help him on school or career selection?
I believe that this is a tough time to be a 17 year-old in the United States. It’s not uncommon for graduates from middle-class families to leave college with $30,000-$50,000 in student-loan debt. Graduates from professional schools are often looking at over $100,000 in debt.
For graduates of elite schools in professional fields, this debt is not a problem. MBAs from Harvard and Lawyers from Yale are easily going to be able to pay off their debts. For others, this debt can be a huge problem. Graduates with degrees in history from small liberal arts schools may not be able to pay off their debts until they are in their 40’s. Read more »
[Note from Eric Eldon: I wrote a rather positive article this week on the proposed $10 billion California High-Speed Rail bond measure. If approved by the state’s voters this November, the bond will lead to high-speed trains stretching from Sacramento and the Bay Area all the way down to San Diego. Martin Engel, a transportation commissioner for the City of Menlo Park, Calif. (a city that the train would run through), thinks its a terrible idea because it’s so expensive and because it’s solving the wrong problems. Here’s his response.]
If I may, I would like to respond, more or less point by point to your article, Eric. Actually, the train ticket price that is most frequently quoted is $55 one way for the SF to LA route. That will be in 2030, according to the CHSRA [Ed. My source on fares is here]. What do you suppose that $55 will have risen to in twenty years, when these trains are finally running?
Train ticket sales today, for regular as well as high-speed trains worldwide, begin at twice the $55 amount for similar distances. Even not-so-zippy Acela (the Washington D.C. to Boston commuter train) is more costly. Many bloggers who’ve visited Europe or Japan will convey that information; that is, it’s expensive to ride those trains. And you doubtless know, all passenger rail systems are massively subsidized; so their expectations of profits are highly hypothetical. Read more »
This is a WordPress site themed by Thematology & Serviced by allQoo.com
