Hi friend, 

While the debates over the 2024 election will continue for some time, it is clearly another reminder that the economy doesn’t work for most Americans. While no single issue explains all things, there is no doubt that the economy was a key driver and that, in many respects, the election can be seen as a cry for help by Main Street Americans. On July 23rd, CNN reported that 39% of Americans worried that they couldn’t pay their bills, which included 52% of Latinos, 46% of Blacks, and 55% of those making less than $55,000. To put that in perspective, that is higher than at any point during the Great Recession after the 2008 financial crash when it peaked at 37%.

They are worrying they can’t pay their bills because too many of them are living paycheck to paycheck, and often not able to afford even basic necessities. That’s one reason credit card debt just hit an all-time high of $1.17 trillion, with Americans paying nearly $164 billion in fees and interest on credit cards in 2022 alone. Few have any savings or assets to fall back on, as highlighted by the wealth gap which has become a wealth gulf: the top 10% of Americans own almost 67% of the wealth while the bottom 50% have just 2.5%.

Unfortunately, much of that is driven by a financial system that often no longer supports the real productive economy and has too often become more of a wealth extraction mechanism than a wealth creation system. While Trump sometimes talks a good game, we expect his administration to make that much worse with broken promises and mindless deregulation of the financial system, as happened during the first Trump term.

Frankly, it has already begun. For example, the Trump campaign said it would cap credit card rates at 10%, which would enormously help Main Street Americans struggling to pay the bills:

However, that policy was under threat just 3 days after he was elected:

He did that presumably because the profits of the gigantic credit card companies would take a hit. Those are the same credit card companies that jacked up their margins from 16.4% in 2021 to 22.8% in 2023 – that’s right, while economy was being shut down and Americans were literally being killed by a pandemic, credit card companies decided that was a good time to increase their profitability by more than 30%.

We expect to see a lot of similar broken promises, policies, actions, and practices during the coming the Trump administration that benefit Wall Street and hurt Main Street. As we did last time, we are going to track, highlight, and seek to hold the incoming administration accountable for those pro-Wall Street actions and fight for policies that protect Main Street Americans.

Remember, a super-majority of Americans on a bipartisan basis agree on these fundamental issues. For example, Sen. Murphy’s poll from Connecticut found that 82 percent of respondents somewhat or strongly agreed that one of the country’s biggest issues is that a “handful of corporations and economic elites have too much power and the government is doing too little about it.” That is certainly true of Wall Street’s biggest banks and the financial system more broadly.

As the majority of Americans feel like they are sinking economically and as this administration is likely to make matters worse, now is the time to fight even harder for our values and prioritize policies benefiting hardworking Americans. For us to do this, we ask for your financial support to continue to be a powerful independent counterweight to Wall Street, even as its allies in the administration and Congress fight for them and their interests.

Thank you for standing with us during this critical time.

Best, Dennis

Dennis Kelleher
Co-Founder, President & CEO

Private markets have seen explosive growth over the last two decades, as detailed in our new report. This growth comes at the expense of our public markets, which are deep, liquid and the envy of the world. Private market growth thus has significant ramifications for institutional and retail investors, capital formation, the entire economy, and all Americans.

The crypto industry’s 2024 campaign strategy was based entirely on a bait and switch fraud on the public. Writing in the San Francisco Chronicle, Dennis Kelleher explains that while the crypto industry spent big on ads attacking lawmakers who stand up for consumers and the public interest, they never actually mentioned crypto. Why? Because crypto is not a priority for the American people, and a supermajority have a negative opinion of it. You can watch Dennis discuss this on CNBC here or read his Op Ed.

Recent hurricanes have caused unimaginable losses of human life and resulted in significant costs to Main Street Americans, small businesses, banks, insurers, and taxpayers. Historically, insurance has provided consumers, businesses, and banks with a vital buffer of protection against catastrophic losses, including from climate events. However, insurers are increasingly withdrawing coverage in the riskiest areas, leaving Main Street Americans and businesses vulnerable. Our fact sheet shows that actions by regulators have been inadequate in responding to the climate-related financial risks that threaten our banks.  That’s why we provide 5 ways that the management of climate-related financial risks must change.

David Moskowitz, Former Wells Fargo Executive Vice President and Head of Government Relations and Public Policy, has joined Better Markets as a senior fellow. David understands how the nation’s biggest banks, Washington, and Wall Street work, and shares our mission that finance should serve society, support the real productive economy, and enable broad based wealth creation and rising living standards for all Americans. We look forward to working with him on those goals.

What the industry has branded as ‘prediction markets’ are really no more than ‘gambling markets.

– Dennis Kelleher in The Washington Post

November 5
A huge bank pleaded guilty to conspiring to launder money, so why weren’t top executives charged?

November 11
The crypto industry won big this election. It has several implications

November 14
FSOC approach to nonbanks unlikely to change under Trump

November 14
After a big 2024 election, why prediction markets could soon eclipse the stock market

Each month our legal team outlines some of the top cases we're keeping an eye on, the Amicus "Friend of the Court" Briefs we have filed, and why everyone with a bank account, credit card, mortgage loan, or retirement loan should be interested in those cases.  

update this for November and update all links in this section 

Cantrell Dumas, Director of Derivatives Policy, was a guest on Marketplace’s Make Me Smart podcast where he explained election betting, the legal questions surrounding these prediction markets, and how the manipulation of these markets has the potential to sway elections.

Wall Street bankers on course for up to 35% bonus bump
Financial Times, November 12

Crypto Industry Lobbies Trump and His Allies to Capitalize on Election Wins
The New York Times, November 13

Fed Refuses to Back Basel Climate Plan, Leaving Talks in Limbo
Bloomberg, November 14