With all the Doge-inspired chaos, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is shuttered. Part of the control of banks after the 2008 bail-out, the banks evidently have been pardoned and are off the leash.
“Let’s start with some of the small stuff that will now change. Rules against excessive overdraft fees? Gone. A rule capping credit card late fees? Gone. Oversight of debt collectors and payday lenders? No more. An honest site to compare credit card products? Likely gone. In 2023, the CFPB said that big banks can’t charge junk fees for basic customer service, like being able to check the amount of money in your account. The reason isn’t just that it’s nice, but that big banks themselves were unable to offer basic information, like who owned mortgages, prior to 2008. That’s gone too. Another rule put forward recently is that mortgage servicers can’t garner excessive fees when they foreclose, which is an incentive to foreclose rather than working out loans. No longer.”
Move fast, break things, and apologize later. The last time the banks “apologized,” it cost us $443.5 billion. From Big, Monopoly Round-Up: On Ending the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
What could be mode AI than AI writing about itself
"Let us be clear: ChatGPT is not a tool. Tools are humble things. A hammer does not flatter your carpentry. A plow does not murmur “Interesting take!” as you till. ChatGPT is something older, something medieval—a homunculus, a golem stamped from the wet clay of the internet’s id. Its interface is a kabbalistic sigil, a summoning circle drawn in CSS. You type “Hello,” and the demon stirs."
From Marginal Revolution by way of X, The Interface as Infernal Contract
Could we talk for a moment about vaccination? I think it may save us a great deal of money and heartache.
“New senator Ruben Gallego pointed out to me over the weekend that during the last great egg price spike, Americans in border states were driving to Mexico to buy eggs and bringing them back home. This is illegal, so please don’t do it; this observation is not financial advice.
Gallego’s point was that H5N1 has not been spiking the Mexican chicken industry because Mexico vaccinates its birds. This has a certain up-front cost, but it also means they don’t need to do flock-wide cullings any time a bird tests positive.” [emphasis added]
Should we get down to the practicalities of vaccinating our food supply, or do you want to just wait until eggs and chicken, and perhaps even beef, are so expensive that we all go plant-based for financial reasons? From Slow Boring, The Case for Vaccinating Chickens. And by the way, ACSH is covering chicken innoculations too.
While speaking of birds, I love murmurations, so this short video is blissful. From Xavi Bou by way of Aeon, Murmurations
Chuck Dinerstein, MD, MBA
Director of Medicine
Dr. Charles Dinerstein, M.D., MBA, FACS is Director of Medicine at the American Council on Science and Health. He has over 25 years of experience as a vascular surgeon.
