Explaining Southern California's economy

Occupy LA: Time to go — peacefully


Of all major U.S. cities with Occupy movements, LA has been by far the most calm — and the city government has been the most accommodating. The City Council voted early on to support the movement, while Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has affirmed the protesters right to assemble, as well as nodded favorably toward their cause. The city also gave the movement a lot of time to prepare for what was supposed to be a departure today from its encampment at City Hall.

But they're still there. And filing a lawsuit to stick around.

To borrow a line from "Gladiator," some people should know when they're conquered. Or, more accurately, when they're been treated with kid gloves for an exceptionally long period of time. To its credit, LA is taking the sluggishness of the Occupy departure/non-departure in stride. That's consistent with how the city has dealt with Occupy so far.

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Bank Transfer Day: The Andy Dean treatment

Occupy Protesters March In Downtown L.A.

David McNew/Getty Images

LOS ANGELES, CA - NOVEMBER 5: Molly Hawkey, who moved her money from a bank to a credit union this week, carries her sign in the downtown financial district during during the the Move Your Money March on what is being called Bank Transfer Day on November 5, 2011 in Los Angeles, California. Occupy movement members are calling for people to move their money from banks to credit unions today in support of the 99% movement. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)

I went on American Now with Andy Dean on Friday to discuss Bank Transfer Day, which of course took place on Saturday. Andy's a sharp and entertaining guy who's no fan of the Occupy Wall Street movement, nor really of the bank transfer idea, but he certainly wasn't afraid to engage in some lively back-and-forth on the topic. Good radio!

You can listen to the segment here. It's the second hour of the show, from Nov. 4. We also wound up discussing my idea that the Post Office could enter the banking business, as a way of saving its skin. And we wrapped it all up with the meltdown of MF Global and the fate of its CEO, former New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine, who may or may not wind up in jail.

In terms of the postgame analysis for Bank Transfer Day, there does seem to be a sense that the lead-up to the protest effort saw a fair number of people move their accounts from big banks to credit unions. Firedoglake has a small amount of snap feedback.

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How will small banks handle Bank Transfer Day?

tomblanton1957/Flickr (cc by-nc-nd)

An Occupy Wall Street image for Bank Transfer Day.

Even though Bank of America has made the unusual decision to rescind its proposed $5 debit-card fee, apparently bowing to the consumer revolt that this fee provoked, plenty of customers may still move their accounts to credit unions and community banks on Bank Transfer Day this Saturday. Credit unions are launching efforts to promote themselves to prospective depositors; some are also expanding their banking hours.

There's skepticism that customers really will migrate from big banks to small banks en masse; a previous attempt to spur a revolt, promoted by the Huffington Post, didn't have much impact. And even if hundred of thousands of customers make the move, that's unlikely to significantly damage large banks, like BofA, Wells Fargo, and Chase, which have billions in deposits. There would need to be a Bank Transfer Day...pretty much every day to make a difference.

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