[Grovenet] Answer on 42.

[David Morelli]

On Oct 25, 2006, at 9:34 AM, Ron D'Eau Claire wrote:

> David wrote:
>
> I am unconvinced that the target marketing, and target selection  
> really has anything to do with driving risk.  ...
> ------------------------------------
>
> Should we require convincing that "...the target marketing, and  
> target selection really has anything to do with driving risk."??
>
> Or even that we require the risk to determine the customer base?
>
> I don't think so.

The insurance companies are telling us that they need our credit  
history to accurately calculate our driving risk.  I am not convinced  
that the stated reason and the real reason are the same thing.  I see  
a marketing tool in the desire for credit history, not an actuarial  
function in their use of credit history.
...
>
> No one made money making bad loans.  ...

I wish I had the time to look up the history of "loans" to political  
campaigns that resulted in political favors.  I even would look up  
the history of people who invested in George Bush.  Those bad loans  
made money, I bet.

> ... While doing that, they're constantly trying to figure out ways  
> to encourage people to pay up and stay current. The more
> successful they are at that, the larger demographic they can  
> address ...

In this case the unit I worked for was the credit card bankruptcy  
support unit.  They were very interested in keeping people in debt,  
out of bankruptcy, and paying the minimum amount of their account.   
There was no interest in encouraging the debtors to reduce their  
debt.  So in that context, "stay current" meant "make minimum  
payments, but stay deep in debt."