You are here: Fairness.com > Resources > More Middlemen Feel Belt Tighten Ar...

More Middlemen Feel Belt Tighten Around Them

Date: October 20, 2004
Author: Steven Pearlstein
QUOTE: ...practices developed mostly in industries where middlemen have played a key role, with the cost of their services bundled into the price of the final product (the stock, the insurance policy, the mutual fund). This lack of price transparency brought with it a lack of price competition...

ABSTRACT: Pearlstein correlates the practice in many industries of bundling middlemen fees into consumer prices with a variety of unethical business practices now coming to light, e.g. the conflict of interest between insurance brokers receiving contingent commissions from insurance companies and the agents' responsibility to their clients. The article details how deregulation, technology, and competition are forcing insurance and other industries to change from hidden fees to a more equitable and consumer-friendly pricing (both more transparent and less costly).

--- O. Overman

Article MetaInformation:

Key People:
Key Organizations:
Subject & Geographic Categories:

Comments:

none
*User comments are posted without Fairness.com LLC's prior review or approval, and Fairness.com LLC takes no responsibility for them; please see our Conditions of Service Agreement.