Article • Dean Baker’s Beat the Press
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This is yet another case where the free market fundamentalists are using big government to fatten their profits. Associated Press has a nice piece on how several states are paying their unemployment insurance benefits through electronic cards issued by banks rather than checks or direct deposits. The banks place various fees on these cards that people with bank accounts, who are most of the unemployed, would not otherwise see. Needless to say, these banks are very happy with big government and would be very much opposed to an efficient more market based mechanism for paying benefits.