Buy Now, Pay Never
Topics: "Pay Later" Loans and Economy Dashboard
#1 - Buy Now, Pay Never
The more that I look into it, the more that “buy now, pay later” services scare me. I am not alone in thinking this as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is currently looking into it. For context, the financial crisis of 2007-2008 led to the creation of the CFPB. This government agency is “dedicated to making sure you [even you, my fellow reader!] are treated fairly by banks, lenders and other financial institutions”. Back in December of 2021, CFPB noticed that “buy now, pay later” services were being used at record levels. Upon this observation, they had concerns about debt, regulatory arbitrage, and data harvesting.
On top of this, a recent survey found that “42% of ‘buy now, pay later’ made late payments toward those loans”. This is a scary trend considering that tech companies are also jumping in on this service. In my eyes, it is making this type of service accessible to even more customers. This may cause even more people to use this service without knowing what they are going into. Scary stuff.
#2 - Economy Dashboard (Personal Project)
I gather economic/financial data from a bunch of resources:
StockRow
FinViz
Yahoo Finance
Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED)
I love to look at data, but I wanted a place where I could view it all in one place. That led to the inspiration behind wanting to create my own “economy dashboard” on Google Sheets. It is still a work in progress, but I am creating a spreadsheet that refreshes when new data is released. Below is a picture of the first version of my dashboard.
I am not really sure of the aim or direction of this project, but I wanted to share it with you all. At some point, I want to create multiple dashboards based on different categories (such as macro vs. micro vs. financial markets). It did not require as much work as I thought, but I am quite proud of what I created. If anyone has any tips or suggestions for the dashboard, then please let me know! The spreadsheet can be accessed here.
Lifestyle Column
The Beatles (Fan-Made Video)
Anybody who knows me knows that The Beatles are my all-time favorite music group. Is it “basic” of me? Definitely, but it is hard for me to articulate how much Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr mean to me. Through good and bad times, The Beatles’ music catalog provides a sanctuary that I can rely upon. No matter what, I know that I can listen to Rubber Soul, the White Album, or Abbey Road (aka my top 3 albums by The Beatles) after a hard day.
I realized all of this after seeing a fan-made video of The Beatles doing “She Came in Through the Bathroom Window” during the Let It Be recordings. I could not help but smile while watching the video since it made me feel a part of a community. As I am not alone in admiring and being inspired by a band that changed the world.
Weekly Leo Pic
Sources
Buy Now, Pay Later: https://www.cnbc.com/video/2022/06/03/42-percent-of-consumers-made-late-payment-toward-buy-now-pay-later-debt-survey-finds.html
Buy Now, Pay Later 2.0: https://www.consumerfinance.gov/about-us/newsroom/consumer-financial-protection-bureau-opens-inquiry-into-buy-now-pay-later-credit/
Buy Now, Pay Later 3.0: https://www.cnbc.com/2022/06/10/apples-latest-fintech-move-has-buy-now-pay-later-industry-on-edge.html
Economy Dashboard: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/18B88n-q0WO9fnK4lcfhuKUYodHl0DS_xLYTVBOWS3Eo/edit?usp=sharing
Great coverage, I'm curious about this topic as well.