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Topic	I'm in a catholic monastery.
adjl 07/19/21 2:11:35 PM #46:	Zeus posted... They make money on the transactions themselves, not just on the interest payments from those transactions. In which case, you're paying for them anyway because retailers have to raise prices to account for transaction fees (that, or you're relying on businesses paying for them for you, but that's generally not a good way to do business). However you slice it, any benefits you aren't actually paying for come out of other people's interest payments. Zeus posted... And some of the tangible benefits have nothing to do with their ability to "afford" the benefit, but more to do with their strength -- such as you have greater protections because they can chargeback retailers who can't do s*. They're able to do that because of their buying power, which is entirely a consequence of how much money they have (much of which comes from interest payments). Zeus posted... Other benefits like airline miles cost them basically nothing. No such thing as a free lunch. If anyone is giving something away, it comes at another cost somewhere else in supply chain (a cost which is greater than the benefit you receive, since whoever's doling out those benefits will want their own cut). Zeus posted... As for the profits they make on interest, keep in mind they also lose money on non-payments. Yes, it's certainly not a risk-free endeavour, but I'm sure you're not actually going to try to argue that Visa and Mastercard struggle to turn profits and that any benefits their cards offer you comprise them sacrificing their profit margin out of the goodness of their hearts. They're making truckloads of money; the benefits they offer you are a small slice of it. This is not to say that you won't ultimately see a net personal benefit from the bonuses offered by credit cards if you're careful to avoid paying interest, but don't pretend that you aren't enjoying those benefits on the backs of people that are mired in debt. Zeus posted... What? A relatively small subset of people/companies buy up a relatively large subset of real estate, then rent it out at a premium they can only demand because of how little is left. Home ownership would be significantly more accessible if not for the rental industry driving up property prices and ensuring people spend too much on rent to be able to amass a down payment for a property they could otherwise afford. "Artificial scarcity" might not be the most accurate way to describe the situation, but it gets the point across. --- This is my signature. It exists to keep people from skipping the last line of my posts. <cite>adjl posted [p:956247611] in I'm in a c... [t:79533245]...</cite> <quote>Zeus posted... </cite> <quote>They make money on the transactions themselves, not just on the interest payments from those transactions.</quote> In which case, you're paying for them anyway because retailers have to raise prices to account for transaction fees (that, or you're relying on businesses paying for them for you, but that's generally not a good way to do business). However you slice it, any benefits you aren't actually paying for come out of other people's interest payments. Zeus posted... </cite> <quote>And some of the tangible benefits have nothing to do with their ability to "afford" the benefit, but more to do with their strength -- such as you have greater protections because they can chargeback retailers who can't do s*.</quote> They're able to do that because of their buying power, which is entirely a consequence of how much money they have (much of which comes from interest payments). Zeus posted... </cite> <quote>Other benefits like airline miles cost them basically nothing.</quote> No such thing as a free lunch. If anyone is giving something away, it comes at another cost somewhere else in supply chain (a cost which is greater than the benefit you receive, since whoever's doling out those benefits will want their own cut). Zeus posted... </cite> <quote>As for the profits they make on interest, keep in mind they also lose money on non-payments.</quote> Yes, it's certainly not a risk-free endeavour, but I'm sure you're not actually going to try to argue that Visa and Mastercard struggle to turn profits and that any benefits their cards offer you comprise them sacrificing their profit margin out of the goodness of their hearts. They're making truckloads of money; the benefits they offer you are a small slice of it. This is not to say that you won't ultimately see a net personal benefit from the bonuses offered by credit cards if you're careful to avoid paying interest, but don't pretend that you aren't enjoying those benefits on the backs of people that are mired in debt. Zeus posted... </cite> <quote>What?</quote> A relatively small subset of people/companies buy up a relatively large subset of real estate, then rent it out at a premium they can only demand because of how little is left. Home ownership would be significantly more accessible if not for the rental industry driving up property prices and ensuring people spend too much on rent to be able to amass a down payment for a property they could otherwise afford. "Artificial scarcity" might not be the most accurate way to describe the situation, but it gets the point across. --- This is my signature. It exists to keep people from skipping the last line of my posts.</quote> ... Copied to Clipboard!
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