Interesting thread, but I had to bite my tongue--I know the cc industry from the inside, from a long association with one of the associations (which confers an obligation for discretion), but trust me, they're all that and more. The kneejerk defense of the credit card industry against the evil Liberals is, how shall I say it? (seriously, check the forum...not Flame, have to be nice)...dubious. Yeah, "dubious".

But what freed my tongue was the thought that the particular kind of fraud you're describing has as its common thread the use of specialists and specialized language--lawyers and legalese--against people who aren't legal specialists. This isn't about the credit card industry now, this is about the ubiquitous way of doing business in the modern world.

Specialization and specialists cooperating through markets are a wonderful thing--see Adam Smith. But this use of specialists against generalist consumers is the sort of pathological twist in Smith's pretty theories that illustrates the need for regulation...which consists, fundamentally, of hiring our own specialists through the government to protect our interests in this "war of specialists". Our Jedi Knights against the Sith Lords of Business, so to speak.

Quite a while ago I was visiting with Atilla the Republican, and while he was ranting about the horrible burden of government regulation on business, he was fixing us some sandwiches for lunch. And I asked him, "hey, Dad, have you checked that meat for botulism?" And he was taken aback for a moment, and I pressed, "you do have a home botulism testing kit, don't you? I mean, you conservatives are so self-reliant and everything, I thought for sure you'd be testing your own food...." and I gave the sandwich a skeptical look and set it down rather melodramatically on the counter.

What the hell is so goddam evil about hiring specialists like biologists and lab technicians to monitor the food supply? It's obvious on that level, and the principle transfers well to other specialties, like, oh, gee, I dunno, mortgages and hyperdimensional financial instruments come to mind.

And credit cards.

There's the bow, all nice and neat.

Taking this to its logical conclusion leads to an answer to the question of how big government needs to be: Big enough to employ as many specialists as the private sector to preserve the balance of power [pop...I think Tom's head just exploded...sorry, just kidding with last suggestion].