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From: Asma Chandani <asc2106@columbia.edu>
To : <CPC@emoglen.law.columbia.edu>
Date: Thu, 7 Apr 2005 19:15:58 -0400
About those credit cards.
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I wanted to comment on something Professor Moglen said in class today,
re: his rebuke at using credit cards. From my perspective, saying don't
use credit cards is like saying don't drive, or don't use airplanes. And
I'm about as likely to stop cruising the streets of LA in my 5-speeder
than I'm likely to borrow money on the equity credit of my future house
mortgage (versus using a credit card). Yes, there is risk associated
with using credit cards. But there are also tremendous benefits. In
fact, credit card companies CAN be a consumer's greatest ally IF used
smartly and wisely. We talked about the collective action problems at
mobilizing the masses to secure their identities. Let me offer one group
of people that could care less about identity fraud, and that could care
less if higher premiums (interest rates) are passed on to unfortunate
others --> People that pay off their credit card balances IN FULL during
the term in which they receive the card at 0 percent interest. These
wise credit card users get the perks that borrowing money from a credit
card company can yield: good credit history, insurance coverage, mileage
points, other side benefits, fraud tracker. These people must surely be
more diligent than the lay borrower: they scrutinize their credit
reports a few times a year and change credit cards to borrow only during
windows of no interest charge. These people only pay a minor percentage
fee on their first borrowing transaction, which in itself is negotiable
(particularly so if they have a good track record of paying balances in
full). So there's at least one group in our credit card culture that's
content in taxing the merchants (the middlemen being charged by the
credit card companies) and passing on social insurance costs to indigent
credit card slaves, benefiting at virtually no cost to themselves. And
they'll phone in customer service when their credit history shows
aberration. Now, what's so bad charging my Financial Times again?
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<p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D2 face=3DArial><span =
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>I wanted to comment on something Professor Moglen =
said in
class today, re: his rebuke at using credit cards. From my perspective, =
saying
don’t use credit cards is like saying don’t drive, or =
don’t
use airplanes. And I’m about as likely to stop cruising the =
streets of LA
in my 5-speeder than I’m likely to borrow money on the equity =
credit of
my future house mortgage (versus using a credit card). Yes, there is =
risk
associated with using credit cards. But there are also tremendous =
benefits. In
fact, credit card companies CAN be a consumer’s greatest ally IF =
used
smartly and wisely. We talked about the collective action problems at
mobilizing the masses to secure their identities. Let me offer one group =
of
people that could care less about identity fraud, and that could care =
less if
higher premiums (interest rates) are passed on to unfortunate others =
</span></font><font
size=3D2 face=3DWingdings><span =
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Wingdings;
mso-ascii-font-family:Arial;mso-hansi-font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-font-fam=
ily:
Arial;mso-char-type:symbol;mso-symbol-font-family:Wingdings'><span
style=3D'mso-char-type:symbol;mso-symbol-font-family:Wingdings'>à<=
/span></span></font><font
size=3D2 face=3DArial><span =
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'> People that
pay off their credit card balances IN FULL during the term in which they =
receive
the card at 0 percent interest. These wise credit card users get the =
perks that
borrowing money from a credit card company can yield: good credit =
history, insurance
coverage, mileage points, other side benefits, fraud tracker. These =
people must
surely be more diligent than the lay borrower: they scrutinize their =
credit
reports a few times a year and change credit cards to borrow only during
windows of no interest charge. These people only pay a minor percentage =
fee on
their first borrowing transaction, which in itself is negotiable =
(particularly
so if they have a good track record of paying balances in full). So =
there’s
at least one group in our credit card culture that’s content in =
taxing
the merchants (the middlemen being charged by the credit card companies) =
and passing
on social insurance costs to indigent credit card slaves, benefiting at
virtually no cost to themselves. And they’ll phone in customer =
service
when their credit history shows aberration. Now, what’s so bad =
charging my
Financial Times again?<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
</body>
</html>
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