[quote=pri_dk][quote=briansd1]How it is beneficial to allow banks to charge exorbitant fees while encouraging Americans to get further and further into debt?[/quote]

That’s a bad example of what you are probably trying to say.

Government regulations should protect against what economists call “market failures.” One type of market failure can occur when one party to a transaction is far more sophisticated and powerful than the other. This often happens with banks and consumers, but overdraft fees aren’t a significant enough transaction to warrant regulation.

A better example would be truth-in-lending disclosures, e.g. a regulation that requires the terms and rules of a mortgage loan be stated clearly. It is not reasonable to expect all consumers to be finance wizards or experts on mortgage law (and mortgages are big transactions.)

But I don’t want my tax dollars enforcing laws that protect idiots who can’t bother to figure out how much money they have in their checking accounts.[/quote]

I agree, in theory…Except if you’ve looked at the latest truth in lending disclosures, I’m not really sure things are much clearer these days than before. The only thing that I think is different, is that it’s just much harder for some broker to underwrite a liar loan..