Coastal Journal staff

After World War II, as Europe was piecing itself back together, with a lot of help from the Americans, both the vanquished and the victors looked forward to a means to combine resources and create a loose economic federalism that would create economic advantage for Europeans. Part of the goal was to tie neighboring countries together economically so that a future war in Europe would be less likely. As early as 1951, a federation for dealing with European coal and steel production was in place, and by 1957, the European Economic Community (EEC) was born.
In English speaking countries, it was known as the 'Common Market'. Tariffs fell within the market countries, while remaining set in non-member countries, so there was more incentive to regularize prices and costs across what had previously been firm economic barriers. In Europe, the cost of labor more or less equalized, and the member nations worked together to improve railroads, ports, and other infrastructure needs.

SOMEWHERE IN SOUTH DAKOTA — Many of the new credit card rules are going into effect on February 22, and while some of them will help some consumers, banks are already looking for ... and finding ... ways to get around the regulations to continue to inflate their bottom line on the backs of consumers.

On May 22, President Barack Obama signed the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure (Credit CARD) Act of 2009 into law. The legislation will improve consumer disclosures and end some egregious practices in the credit card industry but stops short of capping interest rates and fees.