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Ethics in finance case study
The importance of persuasive writing
Ethics in finance case study
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Maxed Out Rough Draft
The United States lending industry’s main focus has become accentuating profits; therefore, they have made it impossible to live without a credit card in today’s economy and to avoid being taken advantage of by the banks. James Scurlock, director and producer of the film, “Maxed Out”, devotes his movie to informing the audience of the credit card system and its many flaws and gives examples of people who are majorly affected by the pressure the lenders apply. Throughout the movie, numerous statistics, and expert testimonies are presented, as well as comparisons and appeals to emotion. Through the use of this support Scurlock, is able to convey his overall message and propose numerous minor arguments that clarify his argument and make it more credible.
One particular minor argument that Scurlock presents in “Maxed Out” is that banks prey on those people who are most likely unable to make payments, are in college, or who have already filed for bankruptcy once, which isn’t ethical. He compares lenders to rattlesnakes and how they, “inflict destroying poison on careless, unwary, and unprotected.” This comparison exhibits to the viewer how problematic and predator like lenders are, and why they have become such a major problem. Also, to illustrate this argument he includes clips of mothers of college students whose children were bombarded with credit card debts and constantly preyed on by the banks. These clips evoke strong emotion because of the utter sadness the mother’s show when revealing that their children both committed suicide to escape the heavy burden and in this section, sorrowful music to accompany the clips as well. Scurlock takes advantage of factual information to convey this minor argument a...
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...ese interviews are the simplest form of support because the lenders in them basically become an example for Scurlocks minor argument about their unethical behavior. The interviewees statements such as saying that this industry is fun because you get a lot of money and then comparing that feeling of making that high amount of profit to winning a football game, appeal to the audiences emotions and will most likely induce anger among the viewers.
Through the use of statistics, expert testimony, appeals to emotions, and a few comparisons, Scurlock tries to convey his message saying that because the lending industry’s main concern is maximizing profits, they have made it impossible to not have a credit card and avoid being taken advantage of. He accomplishes his goal of clearly relaying his argument to the audience with the high amount of credible support he provides.
As a native of Texas, Lendol Calder graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Texas at Austin in 1980 and went on to earn his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 1993. Calder is currently a Professor of History and African-American Studies at Augustana College and is presently working on an analysis of the thrift ethos in American history and culture with a team of scholars organized by the Templeton Foundation and the Institute for the Advanced Study of American Culture at the University of Virginia. He is a scholar of the history of American consumerism and this interest led him to study the progression of consumer credit in America when little else had been published on the topic. Calder draws from some of his own experience with consumer credit in the form of a department store credit card he and his wife obtained early in their marriage to purchase what he says was “a suite of furniture costing twice as much money as we could have scraped from our bank account.” (p.5) Most of his presumptions, however, were discarded in his explorations of the “peaks and valleys of consumer credit” (p.16) due to the fact that most common sense beliefs about the history of credit are in actuality a myth. In Calder’s Acknowledgments, he gives thanks to his parents for coming to his aid and saving him “from having to do some unwanted personal research into the subject of debt.” (p.xiii)
One of the most prominent concerns of Evicted is the issue of inescapable financial instability as it relates to eviction. In the very first few pages of the book, Desmond reveals that the majority of poor renting families in America spend over 50% of their income on housing, with an even more astonishing one in four spending over 70% of their income on it (4). When families are spending the majority of their already meager income on housing alone, it is no surprise that they have little money left for savings or self-betterment programs such as a college education. Compounded with this is the fact that some welfare systems are constructed in a way that discourages long-term financial responsibility. For example, Supplemental Security Income, a program that provides monthly stipends for low-income elderly or disabled individuals, is revoked if individuals have too much money in their bank account (217). For
The first major point that Gretchen Morgenson makes in her article “The Debt Trap” is how lenders have found ways to make a bigger profit from borrowers in the recent years. Shes states that for example, “the rates that credit card companies charge borrowers rose from 17.7 percent in 2005, to 19.1 last year”. That difference added to billions of dollars charged annually. She stated that overall, these lenders increased “junk fees by fifty percent in recent years”. In the capitalistic society that we live in, these lending companies are doing everything they can to make as much of a profit as they can. If this means shoving Americans into the ground in the profit, they do not seem to feel bad about it one bit. This has created a problem with
Jake Clawson Ethical Communication Assignment 2/13/2014. JPMorgan Chase, Bailouts, and Ethics “Too big to fail” is a theory that suggests some financial institutions are so large and so powerful that their failure would be disastrous to the local and global economy, and therefore must be assisted by the government when struggles arise. Supporters of this idea argue that there are some institutions that are so important that they should be the recipients of beneficial financial and economic policies from government. On the other hand, opponents express that one of the main problems that may arise is moral hazard, where a firm that receives gains from these advantageous policies will seek to profit by it, purposely taking positions that are high-risk, high-return, because they are able to leverage these risks based on their given policy. Critics see the theory as counter-productive, and that banks and financial institutions should be left to fail if their risk management is not effective.
While growing up we learn that the best way to stay healthy and look great is through proper dieting and regular exercise. As we get older and feel the pressure of obtaining perfect looks, the sensationalism of fad dieting can seem like a dream come true. With the desire of a tiny waist plaguing America, it can be difficult to decide between healthy dieting an exercise, or extreme fad diets promising fast results. When choosing which method will work best for you can be stressful, it is important to think about what is really best for your body. Each form of dieting has different long term results, can affect your overall health, and can have an effect on the rest of your appearance.
A majority of mortgage defaults that Americans used were on subprime mortgage loans, which were high-interest-rate loans lent to people with high risk credit rates (Brue). Despite knowing the risks, the Federal government encouraged major banks to lend out these loans to buyers, in hopes, of broadening ho...
...ear price and communication. If the financial services firms focus on providing special services to the mass affluent including bundles, the mass affluent will begin to take part in financial services at an even higher rate than the affluent. Banks must offer proper services and advisory services for which the segment is willing to pay for without feeling ripped off. Holding the 43 percent of the world’s wealth the mass affluent are underserved and deserve their time to have the same services offered in the banking industry as the mass affluent. If the banking industry provides outstanding services to the affluent, the American social system should not hinder the mass affluent segment from obtaining financial advice. It is time for a change in the American banking industry and the mass affluent are the future of the movement for an affordable lifestyle for everyone.
One cold morning Sam Black woke up with aching chest pain. Troubled by this new condition he went to see his Heart Doctor. Little did Sam know that hours later he would be lying on the operating table in route for a triple bypass surgery. The surgery went as planned, but it was not the last of them. Sam was sent to many specialists and rehabilitation centers, building a large bill, which they had no money to pay them with. He still pays several grand a year for the medication he is prescribed. Years after the operation Sam and his wife, Elsie, have narrowly escaped foreclose, however the most problematic debt they have is the hundreds of small term loans with interest rates in the triple digits. Elsie once said in an interview regarding the loans they had to take out, “You can’t really keep up with them” (Wright, 2011). Almost a decade later Sam has trouble speaking and has to carry around an oxygen tank. This is a normal couple that got caught in the continuous cycle of payday loans. Like other millions of Americans The Black family settled for shady overpriced short-term loans.
If T.V. news or radio have morphed into reality shows, then it is only a reflection of the viewers. As a former news reporter, the author should understand that the success
Credit cards are something that are almost needed in everyday life now, as most dont have the money available to purchase a car or house and so need credit, thus needing credit cards to help build that credit. Those cards are hard to handle, and receiving applications in the mail daily, and commercials appearing on television don’t seem to make the struggle of staying away any easier. This starts to spark an interest. So people begin to think, "I think I 'm responsible enough to get a credit card, I 'll only use it for emergencies." Then the application process begins and it may take a couple times to finally be approved for one. This only makes it worse, of course, because realizing how long a credit card wasn’t applicable to life, but now
...company workers being affected by the financial crisis. We don’t want to point fingers here only assess the ethical dilemmas that these companies face. Subjective human judgment opens up for the possibility of undesirable human biases and manipulation. However, with or without human judgment, financial models of credit risk are subject to manipulation, both legally and fraudulently.
Mortgage loans are a substantial form of revenue for the financial industry. Mortgage loans generate billions of dollars in the financial industry. It is no secret that companies have the ability to make a lot of money by offering a variety of mortgage loan products. The problem was not mortgage loans but that mortgage companies were using unethical behavior to get consumer mortgage loans approved. Unfortunately, the Countrywide Financial case was not an isolated case. Many top name mortgage companies have been guilty of unethical behavior. Just as the American housing market was starting to recover from its worst battering since the Great Depression, a new scandal, an epidemic of flawed or fraudulent mortgage documents, threatens to send not just the housing market but the entire economy back into a tailspin (Nation, 2010).
Individuals like the two young and rambunctious mortgage consultants portrayed in the film gave loans to anyone and everyone that could sign the paper, regardless of the recipient’s ability to pay the loan in full. It is doubtful that all consultants fully understood the ramifications of their actions, but undoubtedly the overall disregard for consequence was the start of the collapse. Mortgage consultants mislead and tricked people into loans they could never afford by playing on their desire to live the American dream. Distributing adjustable rate loans to individuals without jobs, without collateral is unconscionable. Unfortunately, from their perspective they were helping these individuals. In a twisted way, these consultants were acting ethically from a utilitarian point of view. The consultants won because they received utility in the form of a bonus for distributing the loans, and the loanee won because they could now afford the home of their dreams. What the consultants didn’t consider in their calculations were the long term results and utility of their actions, unethically building the flawed foundation of the housing
The celebrity gossip industry has affected our assumptions about entertainment. Usually, we assume that entertainment is just for fun, entertainment is only a reflection of our culture, and entertainment is a personal choice. Nowadays, entertainment is not just for fun. Celebrities entertain us in many ways, but sometimes we do not enjoy what they do yet we still watch them. For instance, many teen idols have had meltdowns. Although it is not fun to...
A second reason for people’s love of reality television, is the fact that reality TV can stir the viewer’s emotions. “While some cheer for their favorite celebrity on Dancing with the Stars….” (Lehmann). “ Or cry with joy watching Say Yes to the Dress…” ( Lehmann). These are just two of many example quotes that show that people sometimes get very emotional by simply watching other people live out their lives so publicly. Many people id...