The "lack of knowledge is an unambiguous net negative even to the powers that be".

I think it's far more ambiguous and less measured of a net negative, than it is a clear, measured net positive for the "powers that be" if we define them as the wealthy.

You can take a very clear, measured look at wealth distribution over the past 50 years.

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WarmWash 4 hours ago | parent [-]

I have never worked with anyone in business who wished their customers had less economic/financial literacy. Just endless frustration.

On the other hand, you have a massive contingent of people who are constantly scoring own goals because their economic insight is purely an emotional surface level intuition.

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supertrope 3 hours ago | parent [-]

It depends. Predatory salesmen are happy to oblige a customer's desire for a $299 monthly payment, while glossing over the 84 month schedule and 12% interest. They have a very short term view. Uninformed customers are like shooting fish in a barrel.

A mainstream bank takes a longer term view. They offer financial literacy info for customers who are interested. If a customer overdrafts less frequently and is able to leave significant amounts of money deposited the interest spread is more profitable than collecting overdraft fees.

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WarmWash 3 hours ago | parent [-]

The predatory loan market is a fringe market though, and it's not even that lucrative because delayed payments and default rates are so high (and bankruptcy rinses the lender).

Don't confuse the existence of people who profit on inefficiencies as being a sign that the system works best with those inefficiencies, or that those inefficieces are even particularly profitable.

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	▲	neutronicus 2 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		It is my impression that predatory car loans are basically ubiquitous