Scores of unemployed people have taken jobs that required they lower their expectations intellectually and reduce their expenses accordingly. They learned what banks refuse to accept. The public is no longer capable of funding the kind of exuberant growth business experienced in the prior fifteen years. Spending will continue, but with a financially insecure middle class trying to catch their breath (lost homes, lost jobs, cost of college, debts) we can't expect much discretionary spending from any but our wealthiest citizens.
How is it that regional banks (mistakenly thinking they'd be able to charge fees for debit card use) refuse to accept that their bottom line will shrink? Banks are shamelessly leaning on patrons who lend them their money at almost no interest, and now hope to saddle them with new fees to increase revenues. Working customers who occupy space in the real world have accepted reduced salaries and given up dreams, yet banks push to claim their profits at the expense of account holders who are in a weakened financial position.
Working people appreciate having a job during these difficult times. Retirees on fixed incomes have adjusted to getting low interest on their savings and are learning to be more frugal so their funds will stretch. Banks have no reason to expect significant growth next year and seniors' savings accounts will dwindle if interest rates remain low. Baby Boomers are mystified: Why does the financial industry exclude itself from this belt-tightening? Why aren't they joining the "shared sacrifice" by accepting reduced earnings? Like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, banks are amplifying the gap between financial institutions and the community they are chartered to serve. This is a failure to see the big picture, to embrace the long view and its earning them no sympathy.
