Dear Editor,
Jamaica's two largest banks are not just making profits, they are making super profits, all in the midst of a recession. Profit isn't a dirty word, but when we examine what the banks and rating agencies have done to the world's economy, a shiver must run down our collective spines.
Some banks have long hidden behind that ignominious belief they are "too big to fail", and this has prevented governments from enforcing certain regulatory actions. They say that when a bank collapses the chain reaction will trigger a collapse in the entire country's financial system. In other words, banks are the pillars on which our financial system stands and so we need to allow them to get away with anything. But if we continue as we have been doing, with this hands-off approach, the fees banks levy on us can only get worse.
President Obama, in a speech on economic mobility in the United States, said: "In fact, statistics show that our levels of income inequality rank near countries like Jamaica and Argentina." In the US the top 10 per cent takes half of national income.
Mark Clarke
Siloah, St Elizabeth
mark_clarke9@yahoo.com
We must regulate banking fees
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Jamaica's two largest banks are not just making profits, they are making super profits, all in the midst of a recession. Profit isn't a dirty word, but when we examine what the banks and rating agencies have done to the world's economy, a shiver must run down our collective spines.
Some banks have long hidden behind that ignominious belief they are "too big to fail", and this has prevented governments from enforcing certain regulatory actions. They say that when a bank collapses the chain reaction will trigger a collapse in the entire country's financial system. In other words, banks are the pillars on which our financial system stands and so we need to allow them to get away with anything. But if we continue as we have been doing, with this hands-off approach, the fees banks levy on us can only get worse.
President Obama, in a speech on economic mobility in the United States, said: "In fact, statistics show that our levels of income inequality rank near countries like Jamaica and Argentina." In the US the top 10 per cent takes half of national income.
Mark Clarke
Siloah, St Elizabeth
mark_clarke9@yahoo.com
We must regulate banking fees
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