Retailers claim credit card swipe fees are driving inflation

[DJ Synikus Makisimus]

4. Unless the percentage taken by swipe fees has increased,

how can it be a driver of inflation? And if Mastercard/Visa were to decrease swipe fees, what guarantees do we have that the NRFs retailers would pass those "savings" on? None, actually, because lobbyists have no say in the operations of the folks they represent. While I will admit not knowing precisely who/what constitutes the membership of NRF, this sounds like lobbyists for greedy retailers trying to obfuscate blame. Wouldn't it be better to socialize the process and remove profit from such transactions entirely via a government agency? We could nationalize both retail businesses and Visa/Mastercard (reducing CC interest rates to just what is needed to cover staff salaries) to reduce inflation, if the first step doesn't work.

There, that ought to give the NRF nightmares, but perhaps you folks in virtual DUland can think of more ways to ruin the NRF's day.