Fox News' Bulls & Bears makes dubious claim that plan to tax banks will cause ATM fees to rise
Published
On Fox News' Bull & Bears, while discussing President Obama's plan to tax the nation's largest banks, host Brenda Buttner claimed that it's “going to be the consumers who get hit, ultimately”; Fox Business Network host Eric Bolling agreed, responding that the tax would be passed “right down to the depositors, through ATM fees, through check fees, through lower rates.” However, according to economist Dean Baker, since the tax “only applies to the largest banks, it would not be possible for the banks to pass it along to consumers, since they would lose market share to smaller banks who don't pay the tax.”