Andrew Kahr

Lots of ink has been spilled over financial events in Europe, but the essential issues are much more straightforward than they've been portrayed.

A recent American Banker online survey asked what to do about unprofitable customers. Most responders said that bankers must be more "creative" and find profitable ways to keep these customers.

Brian Moynihan, CEO of Bank of America, belatedly rationalized the Bank's announcement of a $5 per month fee for use of debit cards (which was later rescinded) by saying that the fee was "completely clear and transparent." Silly defense for such a grotesque blunder.

There's no "social mandate from heaven to make automobiles affordable for all," says columnist Andrew Kahr. Yet subprime auto has come out of the crisis unscathed. Unlike mortgage lenders, auto financiers didn't fall prey to the assumption that prices would inexorably rise.

Banks with thousands and tens of thousands of employees shudder when dozens or hundreds of demonstrators display their resentment of "Wall Street" and when surveys show that lots consumers dislike or blame banks. Then articles blossom, telling us how to convince employees that they should not be ashamed of being bankers.

In some countries people are executed for "fighting against God." But in the U.S. the penalty for fighting against the government is less harsh. The market often exacts the appropriate penalty—for instance, in the case of Durbin.