[Wikipedia] "Usury is the practice of charging excessive, unreasonably high and often illegal interest rates on loans."  There was a time that usury got you hung, stoned to death, tarred and feathered, run out of town or any number of gruesome punishments.  Today usury gets you a handshake with world leaders and your face on the front cover of Time magazine.

With the Prime Bank Rate at aprox. 2.5% and many credit card companies charging anything from 16% to 24%, 30% or more on default, it is clear to see that banks have been given a free hand to gouge as much as they possibly can and somewhat surprising that they have such difficulty remaining solvent.  It would appear to be solvency at any cost without regard for public interest as long as Presidents, Prime Ministers and politicians are assured their seat on the Board once they have completed their "public service".  It would  also appear acceptable to loan a college student more than they can possibly afford. Even exemplary behavior to loan so much as to encourage a default and bump the interest to the higher rate specified in the small print of the ever more complex credit card agreement.  Yes eventually the college kid will get on that hamster wheel, knuckle down and pay back the debt at 35% interest + service charges + default fees + court fees + debt servicing fees etc.  Hell it's a good lesson for the kid to learn how money works! "The kid chose to spend it." What better way is there to create a society where everyone knows to obey the rules, be they right or wrong and gouge whatever you can wherever you can.  Our leaders and captains of industry certainly do inspire the best in us!

Meltdown Your Credit Cards!

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