This court case came down on last Monday from the US Supreme Court, yet got very little coverage in the news media.
"A federal appeals court on Monday cleared the way for American Express Co to block merchants that accept its cards from steering customers toward lower-cost cards from other issuers. "
""The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York said a lower court judge in Brooklyn erred in February 2015 in finding that American Express’ “anti-steering” rules violated federal antitrust law."
"Underlying the case were the fees that merchants pay to process transactions, which the U.S. government estimated at more than $50 billion a year, and which can be passed along to cardholders in the form of higher prices."
"The lower court judge, Nicholas Garaufis, had found that non-discrimination provisions (NDPs) in American Express’ merchant agreements, meant to dissuade customers from using cards from Visa and MasterCard, unreasonably restrained competition."
"But the appeals court said Garaufis erred by focusing entirely on the interests of merchants rather than cardholders who might benefit from American Express rewards programs and perceived prestige. "
"The second choice always sounds the most appealing to investors, but as the old saying goes, “The market can remain irrational longer than you can remain solvent.” Holding too much cash can become an addiction for investors who don’t have a plan for deploying capital because bear markets don’t operate on a set schedule. Although the lump-sum option has the highest probability of success, the third option offers the biggest payoff from both a psychological and a market perspective in the current environment."
Maybe because I'm young and cheap, but I like a 40% discount on things. Stocks are too over priced. I'm always in favor of buying more paper for less money. I just wait for the Tweets by @realdonaldtrump come lower stock values.
A few weeks ago I searched the NY Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli website for unclaimed funds. 💸It found some. I filled out a form online, no notary required. Today I open my mailbox and there is check from New York State for $160.📬 That’s awesome.
Definitely go visit the New York Comptroller’s website and request your unclaimed funds. At least for my $160💰 there was no paperwork required. 📑100% online.💻
http://www.osc.state.ny.us/ouf/
A simple 10% raise to forfeit voting rights for life doesn't seem like that good of a deal. If you make $50,000 a year, that's only a $5,000 a year raise before taxes, or maybe $150,000 over a thirty-year career (again before taxes). A life time after all is a long time.
That said, I would be willing to forfeit my voting rights if it meant that government was better operated on the basis of scientific knowledge without emotion and ideology. Too often public policy is done at the whim of the mob and special interests, not based on reasoned discussion or what the science says is the best course of action. Cutting out democracy in favor of technocracy could lead to better outcomes for society.