An Early Christmas Gift for Credit Card Holders

Congress may push for an earlier implementation of the Credit Card Act—moving up the date it takes effect from February 2010 to this December, the Wall Street Journal reports. Under the new rules are various consumer-protection measures. For example, card issuers can’t easily change rates on existing balances and card applicants under age 21 may need co-signers. According to the article, “Until the law takes full effect, consumers don't really have any legal recourse if issuers suddenly raise rates or cut credit limits, unless a contract has been breached.”

The New York Times reports that the downturn has hurt a sometimes overlooked segment of the national economy—the family farm. Thanks to lower demand pushing crop and livestock prices down, farmers’ incomes have dropped off. Net farm income for the year is projected to drop 38 percent from 2008, the article says. The average income of the family farm household will fall an estimated 5.2 percent. Still, most of the family farms in the U.S. rely on income beyond the farm to support themselves. The article explains, “That is why the overall financial situation of a vast majority of farmers will depend on the money they are able to raise off the farm, not on it.”

Irish voters have knocked down “the single greatest barrier” to the adoption of the Lisbon Treaty, which would further integrate the European Union, says today’s Washington Post. The official results of a referendum, released yesterday, reveal that 67 percent of voters voted yes to the treaty, which would create a full-time EU president and secretary of state. The economic crisis may have been the nudge Ireland needed to offer its support for the treaty. The paper says, “The results illustrate how the global financial crisis has forced hard-hit nations such as Ireland to find new value in their EU membership, re-energizing a project in cross-border governance that some said would never work.” After “an unprecedented boom,” Ireland has been especially hard-hit by the global financial meltdown.

According to a Kiplinger.com piece in today’s Washington Post, as soon as 2011, there will be no more Saturday delivery of mail. The paper says that the U.S. Postal Service “is serious” about downsizing to a five-day delivery schedule to save money. The paper says, “Lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle are reluctantly coming to the conclusion that USPS cost cutting and much higher postal rates can't bail the service out of the deepening hole it's in.” The switch will be especially bothersome to businesses that rely on weekend ad deliveries, like some retailers and car dealerships. Regardless, the agency has picked Saturday because it’s the day with the least mail volume, about 11 percent of an average week's total.

After a meeting of G7 finance ministers and central bankers, U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said that he’s not abandoning stimulus measures just yet, reports the Wall Street Journal. "We need to avoid the mistakes made in past crises when policy makers stepped on the brakes too soon," he said. "Planning for an eventual exit is the responsible and necessary thing to do, but we are not yet in the position where it would be prudent to begin to withdraw fiscal and monetary policy support." On the topic of executive compensation and big bonuses for bankers, he urged growth built on creativity and innovation instead of disproportional incentives.

In other G7 news, Bloomberg says that members refrained from outright criticism of the weak dollar. Still, it was mentioned that “[e]xcess volatility and disorderly movements in exchange rates have adverse implications for economic and financial stability.” In addition, the officials noted China’s “continued commitment” to a more flexible currency.