This episode has left me with some unanswered questions.
We only have a few banks, but we have many credit unions. I am a VanCity member, and I do not see radically better offerings here. I know that VanCity is not making money hand over fist; and its board and CEO are not getting exorbitant compensation, either. So, it would seem strange if the banks have all that much margin.
Also, Andrew Spence keeps saying how we have some of the worst banks in the world. But I remember how in 2008 we were told that our banking system proved the most resilient. I wonder if those things are related, if making the banks cut too deeply makes the whole system fragile in a downturn.
I'm actually working on something regarding credit unions, hopefully I'll have it soon. I've also spoken with a lot of banking people lately and it's pretty fascinating: there's a school of thought that believes Canada's lack of bank failures is actually a bad thing, because it means they aren't taking risks or innovating. That may sound counter-intuitive on the face of it, but there's something to be said about being *too* safe. The stats appear to be showing that if it's pretty hard to exit a market, it's even harder to enter it. If you're interested, I'd suggest reading Andrew's book "Fleeced." He covers the breadth of issues in there.
This episode has left me with some unanswered questions.
We only have a few banks, but we have many credit unions. I am a VanCity member, and I do not see radically better offerings here. I know that VanCity is not making money hand over fist; and its board and CEO are not getting exorbitant compensation, either. So, it would seem strange if the banks have all that much margin.
Also, Andrew Spence keeps saying how we have some of the worst banks in the world. But I remember how in 2008 we were told that our banking system proved the most resilient. I wonder if those things are related, if making the banks cut too deeply makes the whole system fragile in a downturn.
I'm actually working on something regarding credit unions, hopefully I'll have it soon. I've also spoken with a lot of banking people lately and it's pretty fascinating: there's a school of thought that believes Canada's lack of bank failures is actually a bad thing, because it means they aren't taking risks or innovating. That may sound counter-intuitive on the face of it, but there's something to be said about being *too* safe. The stats appear to be showing that if it's pretty hard to exit a market, it's even harder to enter it. If you're interested, I'd suggest reading Andrew's book "Fleeced." He covers the breadth of issues in there.