Feel The Liberal Love For…Walmart?

Who said this in praise of Walmart's in-house check-cashing operations?

If you're cashing, for example, a $1,000 biweekly paycheck then $6 is almost one third the price MoneyGram is asking. Nothing too earth-shattering about this, but it underscores the point that a lot of the time the best solution to abusive business practices is to find ways to get competing firms into the business.

Incidentally, the Wall Street Journal notes that Wal-Mart once tried and failed to get a full bank charter which would have allowed it to accept deposits and make loans. If they had the license, how many of the 17 million Americans who currently lack a bank account would have one today? And how much damage would it have done to the business models of incumbent depositary institutions?

The answer, in a post titled, "Competition Works," may surprise you.

Hat Tip: Alan Vanneman.

Reason gave Walmart love back when it was called Wal-Mart. And here's a brief on the good things done by the check-cashing industry.