5 Ways Corporate Scavengers Are Making Big Money Off Our Economic Pain

The ruins of the American economy represent a massive crime scene. Wall Street built a house of cards on fraud and misrepresentation, it crashed, and Americans' aggregate net worth is now more than $12 trillion off of its peak. Unemployment remains sky-high and the prospects for a robust recovery anytime soon are dim.

But as Naomi Klein artfully laid out in her book, The Shock Doctrine, a catastrophe for you and I usually presents an opportunity for the Titans of capital. And the grievous economic crisis affecting so many American families is no exception -- big business has found a number of ways to profit, directly, from Main Street's economic pain. Like vultures descending on a rotting corpse, they've come up with a variety of innovative methods to pull the last scraps of meat off the bones of America's middle-class.

"When Americans Go Hungry, JPMorgan Profits"

It's been widely reported that 43 million Americans now require help meeting their basic nutritional needs. Less well known is that JPMorgan is the largest servicer of food-stamps in the U.S., offering benefit cards in 26 states. As Mary Bottari wrote for AlterNet, “The firm is paid per customer. This means that when the number of food stamp recipients goes up, so do JPMorgan profits.”

You should rest easy knowing that the rich profit from the poor directly.



"Good Old-Fashioned Biblical Usury"

When First Premier Bank first offered a credit card with a top interest rate of 79.9 percent, it evoked outrage. So they lowered it…to 59.9 percent. And, as Michael Snyder at the Economic Collapse noted, “Not only are the interest rates on those cards super high, but they also charge a whole bunch of fees on those cards as well.”

More predatory loans, this time in the form of credit cards.



"Dunning the Desperate for Fun and Profit"

Across the country, savvy investors are buying up the debts of those who have run into difficulties for just pennies on the dollar. They then turn the screws on borrowers in order to get a return on their investments. As the Sarasota Post-Star reported, “Debt collectors often use threats and insults to intimidate consumers. But in recent years, collection has become more aggressive, more litigious and more prone to fraud." Creditors will call neighbors and family members in search of the consumer, and reveal information about their debt. They will contact the consumer's place of employment and threaten to get them fired with repetitive calls. They will say harsh and insulting things to force the person to pay.

So if we can't get them to pay we'll get them fired! That'll get us their money! Once they're fired and...oh wait.




Pay-Day!

This recession has been great for the industry. Congress has tried several times to put a cap on their usury, but as the Huffington Post reported last year during the financial reform debate, “The influential $42 billion-a-year payday lending industry, thriving from a surge in emergency loans to people struggling through the recession, is pouring record sums into lobbying, campaign contributions, and public relations.”

Depression, Shmression--Time to buy that new yacht.




"Can't Afford to Pay Back Taxes? There's a Ripoff That's Right for You!"

A lot of folks are struggling with all sorts of costs, and some can't afford to pay the property taxes on their homes. The Huffington Post Investigative Fund dug into the problem, and found that Bank of America and a hedge fund called the Fortress Investment Group had “spotted a fresh money-making opportunity -- collecting the tax debts of tens of thousands of people.” What do they do with it? Well, the banksters add interest charges and fees, and then they bundle the debts into securities and sell them off to investors. (Sound familiar?) In late May and early June, proxies for the two institutions quietly bought hundreds of millions of dollars in homeowners' property tax debts in Florida by bidding at a series of online auctions held by county tax collectors. They didn't use their names but donned multiple other identities, dominating the auctions and repeatedly bidding on the same parcels -- in the case of Walker's small home, more than 8,000 times.

It's all part of the plan. You lost your job and now you can't afford your mortgage that you may have paid quite a bit of already. Don't worry, they'll just pay someone to swoop in and scoop it up for a fraction of the cost!



www.alternet.org...

You know what they say my friend.....


When theres blood on the streets ....... BUY.


There are many people out there motivated by only one thing in life ..... money and the persuit to acquire more. ..

reply to post by IntastellaBurst


and to add to your comment...

“You never want a serious crisis to go to waste.”

They are a bunch of leeches; each one of them!

These are the exact reasons why our world is in the shape it it in now. The only thing that most people care about these days is money. If you have money, then you can loan people the money so that the people that needed the money in the first place will have to pay you back for it and at a much higher cost to the people. They say that money is the root of all evil. The people who are behind the money are the root of that evil.

reply to post by v1rtu0s0


When enough people have nothing left to lose there may be a reckoning..

That day seems fast approaching..

Originally posted by gimmefootball400
These are the exact reasons why our world is in the shape it it in now. The only thing that most people care about these days is money. If you have money, then you can loan people the money so that the people that needed the money in the first place will have to pay you back for it and at a much higher cost to the people. They say that money is the root of all evil. The people who are behind the money are the root of that evil.

Usury is the root of all evil..
We have an ever increasing number of people who wish to get rich by producing nothing and helping no one...

reply to post by v1rtu0s0


What should we do?

I have a dream, an invention. I want to help change the way we consume. I think we need to come up with our own ways and ignore theirs. Boycott it all.
But well....it's a dream, still.

Love your post. Well laid out.

Naomi is a writing goddess. Her recent articles in The Nation were so righteously blunt and thorough.


~*

Let's compile a list of the top worst companies and the top worst people in them here on ATS. Let's list and name the corporate scavengers. I think it would be a good exercise for us (?)

I member on a thread I started alerted me to the connection between JP Morgan & NARUS.
Then there is all these: Reckitt & B, Gap Inc, Shell, Citibank, Cairn-Vedanta, GM, Fiat. for starters.

It is unethical the way these corporate scavengers operate.
They do make "big money off our ....Pain."
And with that money they build big places for themselves, throw extravagant parties, and buy buy buy and sell sell sell. Meanwhile our soil and water and air quality levels are threatening our lives.

It's been widely reported that 43 million Americans now require help meeting their basic nutritional needs. Less well known is that JPMorgan is the largest servicer of food-stamps in the U.S., offering benefit cards in 26 states. As Mary Bottari wrote for AlterNet, “The firm is paid per customer. This means that when the number of food stamp recipients goes up, so do JPMorgan profits.


You should rest easy knowing that the rich profit from the poor directly.

So I guess JPM should service the food stamp cards for free? Just tell me exactly what they are doing wrong. It takes man power and computer power to deal with any card.

Since you feel it’s a crime against humanity, why don’t you petition your personal banking institution to issue and service 43 million debit cards for free. Maybe they will reduce your savings interest from .25% to zero to cover the costs.

I just had a guy come into the office I work at because he got a payday loan for 250 bucks. Now the company has hit him with 500 dollars worth of pure fees, not even paying the loan back. They have all his personal info and are holding him financially hostage.

Messed up stuff.

I’m not trying to insult this particular person. But…

The mere fact he had to obtain a payday loan says he doesn’t have any savings for those emergencies.

I would bet those fees are because he hasn’t paid the money back.

Customers like him are the reason the fees and credit card rates are so high.

I suggest it’s not the fault of the companies but instead it’s the fault of the people who use the services. The terms and rules are disclosed up front. He didn’t abide by them. Whos fault is that?

If you pay off the card balance before the end of the month there is no fees.
Payday loans show you exactly how much you must pay and the due date.