New York Fed Conference: Antitrust Activity in Card-Based Payment Systems: Causes and Consequences

Scott, I was there. It was almost all highly technical economics papers about the marginal elasticity of demand and similar topics. What was most interesting about the meeting wasn't what was said, but what the topics were; the real reason for the meeting--as far as I could see from speaking to several heads of Fed Card groups--was because the Fed understands that cards are money and will increasingly become money, and that therefore, they need to get their arms around the inner workings of the business--which implies a recognition that at some point--probably after the '08 election--they may well begin regulating payment cards, much as Canada is about to begin doing the same.